7.8 magnitude quake in the Philippines kills at least 16, fells buildings and sets off a tsunami
A drone view shows a collapsed building after a magnitude 7.8 quake in General Santos, Mindanao Island, Philippines, Monday. Reuters-Yonhap
MANILA, Philippines — An offshore magnitude 7.8 earthquake rocked the southern Philippines Monday, killing at least 16 people, injuring more than 200 others mostly in damaged buildings and sending a 1-meter (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 and Palau and as far away as southern Japan.
“It’s a major earthquake and we’re expecting damage,” Teresito Bacolcol, the director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, told The Associated Press.
The strongest quake to strike the Philippines this year was centered at sea off Mindanao island at a depth of 33 kilometers (20 miles), about 32 kilometers (20 miles) southwest of Maasim town in Sarangani province, according to Bacolcol.
General Santos, a port city of more than 700,000 people that is a hub for the tuna export industry and other commerce, was among the hardest hit.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said “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. Six shanties on stilts were damaged in a coastal village in Zamboanga del Sur due to the quake and taller waves, officials said.
Assessing damage and casualties
At least seven people were killed and about 130 others injured in General Santos, where a few small buildings partially collapsed and several structures, including a key access bridge, sustained dangerous cracks, Rod Sosmeña, regional director of the Office of Civil Defense, told The AP.
Nine other people were killed mostly due to falling debris, a damaged mosque and a landslide in the southern provinces of South Cotabato and Davao Occidental and on Balut Island, Sosmeña and another disaster-response official, Ednar Dayanghirang, said.
Sosmeña said authorities were checking reports of some students being trapped in a two-story school that collapsed in General Santos. He could not immediately provide details but the national police said at least seven people were missing in General Santos.
The Bureau of Fire said without elaborating that it was involved in search and rescue efforts in a damaged building and a warehouse in General Santos.
Public schools had reopened nationwide Monday after the summer vacation from April to May. Dayanghirang said more than 100 students attending morning flag-raising ceremonies in his southern region sustained bruises and some fainted in panic.
Emergency response personnel talk to a student who felt unwell after an earthquake in Davao City, southern Philippines, Monday. EPA-Yonhap
The international airport in General Santos was temporarily shut, and 17 domestic flights were canceled, civil aviation officials said.
“Our pickup truck suddenly jerked and I thought we had a flat tire,” said Sosmeña, who was traveling as the quake struck at 7:37 a.m. “People dashed out of houses into the streets.”
Dayanghirang said he was able to "hardly stand and keep my balance when the ground shook as I was leaving my house” in the southern port city of Davao.
DZRH radio in Manila reported that a small commercial building where its provincial station was located partly collapsed and staffers dashed to the ground floor without injuries. It wasn’t clear if other people were trapped in the rubble of the four-story office building. Debris also fell from other buildings, hitting tricycle taxis parked below.
Tsunami waves near 3 feet measured
Waves of 1 meter (3 feet) were generally monitored in the provinces of Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani. A 1.4-meter (4.6-foot) wave was monitored at one time in the coastal area of Kiamba town in Sarangani, Bacolcol said.
The quake was also felt in Malaysia's Sabah state on Borneo island. Sabah is just a boat ride away from southern Philippines. An 83-centimeter (2.7-feet) tsunami was measured by a gauge off Indonesia's Sulawesi island, and the PTWC said 30-centimer (1-foot) waves were measured in Palau.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported the depth of the original quake at 55 kilometers (34 miles). Variations in measurements by different agencies are common in the immediate aftermath of an earthquake. Aftershocks as strong as 6.5 magnitude were recorded.
The Philippines, one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries, is often hit by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of seismic faults around the ocean. The archipelago is also lashed by about 20 typhoons and tropical storms each year.