'It felt like we were being rocked'

A 7.6-magnitude undersea earthquake struck off the eastern coast of the Philippines, destroying roads and bridges, sending people fleeing to higher ground and triggering tsunami warnings across the region.

In the eye of the storm: A tsunami warning has been lifted for Japan, Taiwan and a number of Pacific island countries but remained in effect for the Philippines, Indonesia and Belau following the earthquake on Friday. Pic/AFP.

The quake was centred 106km east of Samar Island, the US Geological Surveyu00a0said.u00a0"People are fleeing to higher ground," the Samar congressman Ben Evardone told local radio.u00a0A disaster agency official said residents in the area should get to higher ground immediately.

"Strong earthquake here in Taft, Eastern Samar! And it lasted very long too!" Evardone said by text message earlier.u00a0He said the quake had destroyed some roads and bridges.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

A radio reporter in Leyte province, near Samar, said people had run out of their homes when the quake struck.u00a0"It felt like we were being rocked," he said.u00a0A tsunami alert was originally issued for several countries including Japan and for Pacific islands as far away as the Northern Marianas, but most of them were soon lifted, leaving warnings only for the Philippines, Indonesia and Palau, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said.

"My neighbours and I have evacuated. We are now on our way to the mountains," said fisherman Marlon Lagramado.u00a0The head of the Philippine seismology agency, Renato Solidum, said residents living along the coastline of eastern Samar Island had been advised to evacuate to high ground in case of a tsunami.

A local radio station reported one house had collapsed in southern Cagayan de Oro city and there was no electricity in several other towns
and cities across the central and southern Philippines.