MANILA (AFP) - A 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck at sea off the southern Philippine coast late on Friday (Feb 8), though there were no early reports of damage and the local seismology office said it expected none.

The US Geological Survey and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said the quake struck at 7.55pm, its epicentre about 41km east of the town of General Luna on Mindanao island.

It had a relatively shallow depth, measured at 24km by the US agency - and 19km by the local quake monitors - but the latter said in an advisory that it was not expected to have caused damage.

The Philippines is part of the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of intense seismic activity that stretches from quake-prone Japan through South-east Asia and across the Pacific basin.