tsunami warning for waves up to three metres
Manila: In the Philippines, people were told to immediately move to higher ground after a 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck offshore, prompting a tsunami warning across the region.
The country’s Phivolcs seismological agency warned of damage and aftershocks from the powerful earthquake that struck the waters of Manay town in Davao Oriental in the Mindanao region. It was stated that the earthquake occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers underground.
Drivers drive through a crack in the road along a major highway in Cebu Province caused by an earlier earthquake in the Philippines at Otober 1.Credit: AFP
The agency appealed to people in coastal towns in the central and southern Philippines to immediately evacuate to higher ground or move further inland, saying wave heights of more than a meter above normal tides could be expected.
A tsunami warning was also issued for Indonesia’s northern Sulawesi and Papua regions; Waves as high as 50 centimeters are likely to hit the Indonesian coast.
However, the United States Tsunami Warning System issued a tsunami threat stating that dangerous tsunami waves of up to three meters were possible for coasts up to 300 kilometers from the earthquake’s epicenter.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said waves of one to three meters above tide level were possible in the Philippines, while waves of up to one meter were also possible along some coasts in Indonesia and Palau.
Edwin Jubahib, governor of Davao Oriental, said people panicked when the earthquake occurred.
“Some buildings were reported damaged,” Edwin Jubahib told broadcaster DZMM. “It was very powerful.”
Local officials in the affected area in the Philippines could not immediately be reached.
