MANILA — A powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the southern Philippines on Monday, killing at least 37 people, collapsing buildings and triggering tsunami warnings that reverberated across the Asia-Pacific region before authorities lifted the alert hours later.
The quake struck at approximately 7:37 a.m. local time near General Santos City on the island of Mindanao, at a depth of 35 kilometers, according to the United States Geological Survey. The tremor was felt across a wide swath of the archipelago, sending residents fleeing from homes and schools as emergency sirens blared in coastal communities.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the immediate activation of emergency agencies, including the Office of Civil Defence and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. He urged residents in coastal areas to evacuate to higher ground as a precaution. Schools in affected regions were ordered closed.
General Santos City, home to some 722,000 people, sustained some of the most severe damage. Video footage from the city showed a three-storey Jollibee restaurant building collapsed into a cloud of debris and dust as onlookers scrambled for safety. Parts of St Elizabeth Hospital were severely damaged, forcing medical staff and patients to evacuate and operate temporarily in open areas outside the main facility.
Diego Agustin Mariano, deputy spokesperson for the Civil Defence Office, said at least 37 people had been confirmed killed and that authorities were still working to verify the total number of injured across Mindanao.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology reported more than an hour of significant aftershocks following the main quake, with intensities rated as very strong in the Soccsksargen region. The institute advised residents in affected areas to remain vigilant as seismic activity continued.
Mary Ann Blanco Rhudy, a Catholic nun at Notre Dame of Dadiangas University in General Santos, said she was travelling to the college when the earthquake struck. The cars on the road were moving erratically. I am lucky that they did not crash against each other, she told reporters. The trees on the side of the road were also swaying violently. Some of the buildings at the college had partially collapsed.
Police spokesperson Robert Dagun said rescue operations were underway in multiple locations across the city, where several residential and commercial structures had partially or fully collapsed. Emergency teams from nearby provinces were being deployed to assist with search and rescue efforts.
Tsunami warnings were initially issued for the Philippines, Indonesia and parts of the Pacific coast following the quake. Japan Meteorological Agency officials monitored coastlines in the southern Ryukyu Islands. Warnings were progressively downgraded and lifted by mid-afternoon local time as sea level readings showed no significant anomalies.
International assistance offers began arriving within hours. The United States Agency for International Development confirmed it was coordinating with Philippine authorities on potential support options. Australias Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was preparing assistance packages for deployment.
The Mindanao region has a history of seismic activity due to its location along the Pacific Ring of Fire. Mondays earthquake is among the most powerful to strike the Philippines in recent years, and officials cautioned that the full scope of the damage was still being assessed as search operations continued into the evening hours.
Kenji T.
Reporting from Manila was supplemented by wire service dispatches. Updates will be published as details emerge.