The quake, first reported as a magnitude 6.7, hit at a depth of 58.5 kilometres (36 miles) about 27 kilometres east of the town of Santiago on the island of Mindanao, according to the USGS.

Nash Paragas, a rescuer in the eastern province of Davao Oriental, told AFP there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

"There was shaking. I saw some of the cars moving, but I think it was only for a short time, around five seconds," he said.

Eastern Mindanao was rocked by a pair of earthquakes of 7.4 and 6.7 magnitude in October that killed at least eight people.

These followed a magnitude 6.9 quake days earlier that killed 76 people and destroyed or damaged 72,000 houses in Cebu province in central Philippines, according to government figures.

Earthquakes are a near-daily occurrence in the Philippines, which is situated on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of intense seismic activity stretching from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.