Portugal Colonial - Strong 6.4-magnitude quake rocks northern Philippines: USGS

"We are expecting damage here," seismologist Charm Villamil told reporters following the quake, which struck around 10:59 pm (1459 GMT) near the upland town of Dolores.

She said the impact on buildings would depend on their structural integrity as well as the characteristics of the ground where they were built.

The quake, which occurred at a relatively shallow depth of 15.2 kilometres (9.4 miles), was felt as far away as the capital Manila, more than 330 kilometres to the south.

Reached by phone, Dolores police patrolman Jeffrey Blanes told AFP that "buildings were shaking so people ran outside."

"All of the police personnel went out of the police station because of the quake," he said, adding that there are currently "no reports of damage or casualties."

In July, a 7.0-magnitude quake in the same area triggered landslides and ground fissures in the mountainous region, killing 11 people and injuring several hundred others, according to the official count.

Quakes are a daily occurrence in the Philippines, which sits along the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of intense seismic as well as volcanic activity that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

The nation's civil defence office regularly holds drills simulating earthquake scenarios along active fault lines.

In October 2013, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck the central island of Bohol, killing more than 200 people.

That powerful quake altered the island's landscape and a "ground rupture" pushed up a stretch of earth by up to three metres, creating a wall of rock above the epicentre.

P.Serra--PC