Strong earthquake strikes southern Philippines with tsunami warnings issued | Philippines
A 7.8-magnitude earthquake shook the southern Philippines early Monday, prompting tsunami warnings along some regional coasts, destroying some homes and killing at least one person.
“Many buildings were affected, but I cannot count them at the moment because we are busy with ongoing rescue efforts,” Staff Sergeant Robert Dagon of the General Santos City police told Agence France-Presse.
The Philippine Civil Defense Office warned people to avoid entering damaged homes or other infrastructure due to the danger of aftershocks.
Video verified by the Guardian shows the collapse of the upper floor of the Jollibee restaurant, a popular fast food chain, as well as the exterior concrete walls of a collapsing commercial complex in General Santos City, near the epicenter of the earthquake.
Power outages were reported and people were asked to move to higher ground. No further information about the injured could yet be obtained from the civil defense office.
According to the initial report by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, the epicenter was 13 km (8 mi) southwest of the city of General Santos on the island of Mindanao and had a depth of 10 km (6.2 mi). He was shot at 7.37am. The US Geological Survey (USGS) determined the magnitude to be 7.8 and the depth to be 55.2 km (34 mi).
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said tsunami waves of up to 3 meters (10ft) were possible along some coasts of the Philippines. Waves of up to 1 meter (3 ft) were possible off some coasts of Indonesia and Malaysia.
Teresito Bacolcol, president of the Philippine institute, warned people living in coastal areas, “We advise people to evacuate to higher ground or move further inland.”
Smaller tsunami waves were possible in Taiwan, Japan, Guam, Papua New Guinea and some island countries and territories in the Western Pacific.
Citizens felt earthquake tremors in Indonesia’s North Sulawesi and North Maluku provinces.
The Philippines, one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, is frequently exposed to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, which consists of seismic faults surrounding the ocean. The archipelago is also the target of approximately 20 typhoons and tropical storms each year.
The earthquake occurred just as public schools were reopening this year. A video shot at Mahayhay Elementaru School in Davao shows panicked students scrambling for safety during the morning flag ceremony.
The Philippine Red Cross reported that it went to three high schools to provide care to many students traumatized by the earthquake.
Carmela Fonbuena contributed to this report. With Associated Press and Agence France-Presse
