Strong 7.4 magnitude earthquake hits southern Philippines
The 7.4 magnitude earthquake that occurred off the southern coast of the Philippines prompted tsunami warnings from Filipino and Indonesian authorities.
Residents of coastal towns in the central and southern Philippines were asked to evacuate after authorities warned of waves one meter (3.3 ft) above normal tide levels.
At least one person died in the earthquake that occurred on Friday morning, which led to power outages and the postponement of classes in some parts of the country.
The latest tremor came a week after a 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck the central Cebu province of the Philippines, killing 74 people and injuring hundreds.
In the images appearing in the local media, overhead network cables can be seen shaking as the vehicles came to a halt when the 7.5 magnitude earthquake occurred.
Reporters observed a frenzy outside a hospital in Davao City, near the earthquake’s epicenter, as patients were treated in an outdoor parking lot and crowds filled the corridors.
A local governor described scenes of panic as tremors shook his state.
“Some buildings have been reported damaged,” Edwin Jubahib, governor of Davao Oriental province, told Philippine broadcaster DZMM. “It was very powerful.”
Richie Diuyen, who works for the local disaster agency in the town of Manay, said that after the earthquake, some students fainted and felt dizzy.
Ms Diuyen told the BBC: “I’m still scared and shaking. We couldn’t believe how strong the earthquake was. This was the first time I experienced this.”
Located on the geologically unstable “Ring of Fire”, the Philippines has been hit by a series of devastating natural disasters.
Director of the Philippine volcanic agency Phivolcs, Dr. “Filipinos are now suffering from disaster fatigue due to typhoons, small volcanic eruptions and earthquakes,” Teresito Bacolcol said at a press conference Friday. he said.
Dr Bacolcol urged Filipinos to “accept our reality” that “every now and then we will be hit by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis.”
“Instead of panicking, we should prepare,” he said.
The earthquake that struck Cebu on October 4 was one of the strongest and deadliest earthquakes the country has experienced in recent years, displacing nearly 80,000 people across the province.
The super typhoon that affected the north of the country last month caused the death of 11 people.
Philippine officials had warned of “devastating” and “life-threatening” tsunami waves following Friday’s earthquake, but the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said the threat had passed after about an hour.
Aftershocks ranging in magnitude from 2.6 to 4.9 continue to shake the southern region of Mindanao even hours after the initial earthquake, Phivolcs reported.
“Minor tsunamis” detected near Indonesia; the highest of these reached 17 cm in the Talaud Islands in North Sulawesi.
A local official told the BBC that students in the Talaud Islands, an archipelago near the Philippine border, had been sent home but the situation remained calm.
Indonesians urged the public to “stay calm” and stay away from buildings damaged by the earthquake.
With reporting from Arie Firdaus in Jakarta and Osmond Chia in Singapore
