THE Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) on Friday issued a statement, saying that recent social media posts asking the public for prayers for Mindanao because of a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that may occur in Cagayan de Oro (CDO) or Tagoloan town in Misamis Oriental as epicenter is fake news.

'We would like to inform the public that this kind of message did not come from DoST (Department of Science and Technology)-Phivolcs. We are persuading those who have received this kind of post to please not spread it through text or internet,' Phivolcs said.