Hong Kong, Sep 01: An earthquake of magnitude 5.3 jolted the western coast of the Philippines, the Hong Kong observatory said today. The quake was centered over the South China sea about 150 kilometres west-southwest of Manila. It struck yesterday at 8:46 pm. Local time in the Philippines (1816 IST yesterday), the observatory said in a statement. The Philippines is located in the Pacific "ring of fire," where earthquakes and volcanic activity are common. Bureau Report