Manila, Sep 13 (DPA) An undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 5.3 in the Richter scale shook several provinces in the eastern Philippines overnight, but no injuries or damage was reported, the government said Wednesday.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) said the tremor was felt late Tuesday in the provinces of Surigao del Sur and Surigao del Norte, 795 km south of Manila.

PHIVOLCS said the quake's epicentre was located off the town of Hinatuan in Surigao del Sur. The movement of the Philippine Trench, a major fault line that runs east of the country, caused it.

The agency said it was not expecting injuries or damages from the earthquake.

The Philippines, located in the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire", suffered its worst earthquake in 1990 when a magnitude 7.7 tremor, killed nearly 2,000 people in the northern island of Luzon.