7.8 magnitude earthquake hits southern Philippines, tsunami warnings issued regionally
By Kathleen Magramo, CNN
(CNN) — An earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck the Mindanao region in the southern Philippines on Monday, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), triggering tsunami warnings in the country and neighboring Indonesia as well as Japan.
The earthquake struck around 07:37 a.m. local time at a depth of about 35 kilometers (21.7 miles), according to the USGS. There have been no immediate reports of deaths.
The country’s seismology agency, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), said the quake hit off the shores of General Santos City in Sarangani province, the southernmost tip of the Mindanao island.
Phivolcs has also issued a tsunami warning, calling on people living in coastal areas to evacuate. Tsunami waves could reach 1 to 3 meters above the tide level in parts of the Philippines, according to the US Tsunami Warning System.
Photos from the local information office in General Santos City showed convenience stores and buildings crumbling in the aftermath of the quake.
The strong quake struck as public schools started the new academic year on Monday.
Social media video showed dozens of terrified elementary schoolchildren crouching down outdoors as the ground beneath them swayed violently in the province of Davao Occidental. Other footage showed a high school campus roof which had collapsed while pupils lined up outside the school’s sports field in Davao Del Sur. No injuries were reported in both incidents.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he has “directed all relevant government agencies to act immediately” to evacuate residents and start rescue work.
“To our kababayans [countrymen] in the affected provinces, please heed the tsunami warning. Move to higher ground now. Do not wait. Your life is more important than anything left behind,” he said in a statement.
Sarangani province, where most images of the damage are emerging, is home to roughly 580,000 people.
Benjie Ancheta, police chief of Alabel town in Sarangani in the Philippines, told Reuters that the police building had some cracks immediately after the quake, which occurred during their flag-raising ceremony.
Ancheta said there were no immediate reports of casualties, but some people fainted following the strong tremor.
“This is the strongest earthquake we’ve experienced,” Ancheta told Reuters by phone.
Indonesia issued a tsunami warning for its northeastern coast while Japan did the same for its southern coast, from Ibaraki Prefecture to Okinawa Prefecture.
The Philippines, Indonesia and Japan are situated in the so-called Ring of Fire, an arc of fault lines circling the Pacific Basin that is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
No tsunami threat has been detected in Hawaii, according to the National Weather Service.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
The-CNN-Wire
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