A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the southern Philippines Thursday, the US Geological Survey said, but there were no immediate reports of damage and a tsunami warning was not issued.

The quake hit about 310 kilometres (193 miles) southeast of Davao city on the main southern island of Mindanao at a depth of 95 kilometres at 8:23 pm local time (1223 GMT), according to USGS.

Residents in Jose Abad Santos town near the southern tip of the island lost electricity for about 15 minutes after the quake shook the region but there was no damage, police chief Captain Glabynarry Murillo told AFP.

-From our vantage point at the police station we saw many residents rushing outside- said Murillo.

-We also rushed outside because the police station is a three-storey building.-

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology warned of aftershocks but said damage was not expected.

-It was felt extensively because it's a major earthquake but it's deep so it won't be damaging to the infrastructure because it's considerably far (from the island)- Renato Solidum, director of the institute, told DZBB radio station.

The Philippines is regularly rocked by quakes due to its position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of intense seismic activity that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.