An offshore magnitude 7.8 earthquake rocked the southern Philippines on Monday, killing at least 19 people, injuring more than 200 others mostly in damaged buildings, and sending a 3-foot tsunami into nearby coasts. A few buildings collapsed and key infrastructure sustained quake damage in the city of General Santos, and tsunami damage was reported in at least one coastal village. Smaller waves were measured in Indonesia, Palau, and as far away as southern Japan. "It's a major earthquake," said Teresito Bacolcol, director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, warning people to seek advice before returning to damaged buildings and houses that could collapse in aftershocks.
"Our pickup truck suddenly jerked and I thought we had a flat tire," said Rod Sosmeña, regional director of the Office of Civil Defense, told the AP from the hard-hit port city of General Santos, where he was traveling when the quake struck at 7:37am. "The shaking was very strong and people dashed out of houses into the streets," Sosmeña said. Another disaster-response official, Ednar Dayanghirang, told the AP that he could "hardly stand and keep my balance when the ground shook" in the southern port city of Davao. General Santos is a port city of more than 700,000 people that is a regional hub for the tuna export industry and other commerce.
It was the strongest quake to strike the Philippines this year, and was centered at sea off Mindanao, the second most populous island in the Philippines. According to Bacolcol, the quake occurred at a depth of 20 miles, about 20 miles southwest of Maasim town in Sarangani province. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the cancellation of classes and directed disaster-response agencies to quake-hit provinces, saying "the national government is moving and we will not leave Mindanao behind." The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the threat of a tsunami largely passed about five hours after the quake. Philippine officials also lifted a tsunami warning by mid-afternoon.
At least 19 people were killed, mostly in collapsed buildings and landslides, while thousands of villagers were displaced, Office of Civil Defense spokesperson Junie Castillo said. Among the dead were seven people in General Santos. The other deaths were caused by falling debris, a damaged mosque, and a landslide in the southern provinces of Sarangani, South Cotabato, and Davao Occidental, and on Balut Island, said Sosmeña and another regional disaster-response official, Ednar Dayanghirang. Sosmeña said authorities were checking reports of students being trapped in a two-story school that collapsed in General Santos. The national police said at least 12 people were missing in General Santos.
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