<span style="color: #222222;">A powerful earthquake of 6.6 magnitude struck a central Philippine region today, damaging houses, low-slung buildings and a seaport and prompting people to run outdoors for safety.<br />''<br />''Roads and bridges were cracked in Cataingan, the coastal town nearest the epicenter.<br />''<br />''The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said the 6.6 magnitude quake hit about 5 kilometers from Cataingan at a depth of about 21 kilometers.<br />''<br />''Renato Solidum, who heads the government institute, said there was no threat of a tsunami from the earthquake, which was set off by movement in the Philippine Fault. The quake was felt in several provinces across the central Visayas region.<br />''<br />''The Philippines lies in the Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of faults around the Pacific Ocean where most of the world's earthquakes occur. A  7.7 magnitude quake killed nearly 2,000 people in the northern Philippines in 1990. </span><br />