This video shows the terrifying moment a powerful earthquake rocked the sea floor below a group of divers who were exploring the ocean.
Diver Jan Paul Rodriguez captured on camera the force of the magnitude 5.7 earthquake striking as they were nearly 60 feet deep in waters off the coast of Mabini in the Batangas province.
The divers were on their way to a depth of more than 130 feet when the tremors started on April 8.
“It felt like there was a huge propeller of a big boat turning around directly above us,”Rodriguez told Newsflare.
“We heard underwater the trembling of rocks under the ground and we felt the shock wave,” he added. “It hurt our ears, feeling heavy breathing and sudden changes in pressure.”
The video above shows the sea floor appearing to rumble below the divers, stirring the sand and marine life into a haze.
“The seabed pumped up and down immediately followed by a strong shaking of the ground and the small rocks falling,” Rodriguez said.
A series of earthquakes shook the Batangas area the day the divers were rocked in the ocean, according to CNN Philippines. The strongest earthquake that day was a magnitude 5.9 and the weakest was a magnitude 5.0.
Noel Luistro, the mayor of Mabini, said the earthquake scared off tourists and forced villagers on land to retreat to higher ground in fear of a tsunami, according to The Telegraph.
“Our tourists left out of fear they may be affected by the earthquakes,” Luistro told a local radio station after the incident. “I need to declare a state of calamity.”
When the tremors stopped, Rodriguez’ dive leader aborted the dive and the group returned to ocean’s surface. No one in the group was seriously injured.
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