The quake was recorded at 7:33pm local time (1133 GMT) with an epicentre about 42 kilometres (26 miles) south of Uyugan town in the Batan Islands, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.[break]
The United States Geological Survey said the quake had a depth of 178 kilometres.
Norma Talosig, the Batan Islands´ civil defence chief, said she contacted a Philippine navy detachment in Basco -- the capital of the sparsely populated island group near the sea border with Taiwan -- to check on the impact.
"I was told it registered as a low-intensity tremor there, with no visible damage," Talosig told AFP.
She said there were no immediate reports of casualties in Uyugan, a town of around one thousand residents, or nearby areas.
The Philippines lies in the so-called Pacific ring of fire, a chain of islands that are prone to quakes and volcanic eruptions.
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