A rare oarfish washed up on the beach died hours after it was rescued following a powerful earthquake that struck the region.

The 15ft-long creature was spotted by locals wounded but still breathing being pushed by waves to the shore in Hinundayan town, Southern Leyte on Friday (November 13).

The scene happened a day after a magnitude 5.2 quake hit Butuan City, more than 200kilometres south of the province.

Arnel Resma Casido, who lives near the sea, said he heard his neighbour shouting about a giant fish near the shore so he went to see it.

Superstitious locals believe that the fish was a bad omen related to the unlucky day Friday the 13th as the country was hit by several natural calamities before the year ends.

The resident said: "We found the fish on Friday 13th and we believe it is unlucky and will cause more problems. Hopefully not."

Concerned onlookers called the local officials to help save the fish but it eventually died after being taken to the marine centre.

Oarfishes are the longest bony fish alive. They can grow up to 56ft long (17 metres) and normally lurk in depths of 3,300 feet (1,000 meters) so they are rarely seen.

Japanese folklore suggests that oarfish are messengers from the sea god's palace that can herald either a great catch or a disaster.

In recent years, the long, serpent-like silver oarfish have signalled imminent major earthquakes when they have emerged from the depths.

Around a dozen of the rarely-seen fish were found washed ashore in Japan in late 2009 and 2010 shortly before the Tohoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami in March 2011 killed more than 19,000 people and caused meltdowns at three nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

While in July this year, a 13ft long oarfish was found washed ashore off the coast of Quintana Roo, Mexico, just days before an earthquake struck the Mexican state of Oaxaca.

Found in all temperate to tropical oceans yet rarely seen, the oarfish is the world's longest bony fish.

This elusive deep-sea creature usually inhabits depths of around 3,000 feet, but it has also been spotted swimming near the surface with its head sticking out of the water.