DevelopingAt least 19 dead in Philippines after magnitude 7.8 quake hits, over 200 injured
Tsunami alerts were issued in the southern Philippines, northern Indonesia and the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo island
An offshore magnitude 7.8 earthquake rocked the southern Philippines on Monday, killing at least 19 people, injuring over 200 others and sending a one-metre (three-foot) tsunami into nearby coasts.
The quake struck early in the morning off the island of Mindanao – an island the size of South Korea – as Philippine schools were reopening after a long break, with the tremors felt strongly in a dozen provinces and 420km (261 miles) away in the city of Manado on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.
A few buildings collapsed and key infrastructure sustained quake damage in the port city of General Santos, and tsunami damage was reported in at least one coastal village.
Smaller waves were measured in Indonesia and Palau and as far away as southern Japan.
“It’s a major earthquake,” said Teresito Bacolcol, the director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, warning people to seek advice before returning to damaged buildings and houses which could collapse due to aftershocks.
“Our pickup truck suddenly jerked and I thought we had a flat tyre,” said Rod Sosmeña, regional director of the Office of Civil Defence, speaking from General Santos, where he was travelling when the quake struck at 7.37am.