By Hader Glang & Roy Ramos

ZAMBOANGA CITY, the Philippines

At least three people were injured and four houses destroyed Thursday after a strong earthquake shook the southern Philippines, causing residents to run to the streets in panic.

In Zamboanga City, where the pre-dawn magnitude 6 temblor registered a “very strong” intensity, residents were woken up by rocking houses and buildings, and guests rushed out of a downtown hotel.

A chief police inspector in the city, Hingming Ladjaali, told Anadolu Agency that a mother and her son were among those wounded when a wall of their house collapsed.

Another woman reportedly also sustained injuries in Sinunuc village.

Lynlyn Ganding, a nanny, told Anadolu Agency she felt tremors lasting around 30 seconds.

"I was scared and I grabbed Baby Jewel and rushed out of the bedroom," she said.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said in a statement that the earthquake occurred around 19 kilometers (11.8 miles) northwest of Baliguian town, Zamboanga del Norte province, in the Sulu Sea.

Phivolcs said that in areas under the intensity of 6, such as Zamboanga City, ''some people lose their balance… Heavy objects or furniture move or may be shifted. Small church bells may ring.”

Mayor Isabelle Climaco-Salazar instructed disaster response teams to remain on standby in case of emergency.

“Let us remain calm but vigilant,” she posted on her Facebook page.

In 1976, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake off the Zamboanga Peninsula left around 8,000 people dead or missing.