Philippines earthquake kills at least 15 people and triggers tsunami warning

At least 15 people were killed and 129 others injured after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck one of the country’s southern islands, according to the Philippine Civil Defense Office.

Rodrigo Sosmina, director of the Office of Civil Defense, said 12 deaths were reported in Sokskargin district, an area that extends across the provinces of South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani, as well as General Santos City.

Tsunami warnings were issued after the earthquake that struck the southern Philippine island of Mindanao on Monday morning, while schools reopened after a long hiatus.

The tremors were felt strongly in dozens of provinces and 420 kilometers away in the city of Manado on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.

Philippine authorities are assessing the damage, and the Civil Defense Office is seeking to verify the number of dead and injured, most of them caused by falling debris.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said tsunami waves up to three meters high were likely to occur on some coasts of the Philippines. There is a possibility of waves reaching approximately one meter high on some coasts of Indonesia and Malaysia.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said authorities were moving quickly to coordinate the disaster response. “The national government is moving and we will not leave Mindanao behind,” he said.

Tsunami warnings were also issued in neighboring Indonesia but were later removed.

A video clip published by the local government in General Santos, a city inhabited by about 700,000 people, showed the collapse of a building housing a fast food restaurant, with onlookers fleeing as a cloud of dust quickly spread into the air.

A hospital in General Santos was evacuated due to fears of cracks on the upper floors. A building collapsed in the Notre Dame Cathedral of Dadiangas University, but there was no one inside.

“I had to crouch down and take cover under the table,” university president Manuel de Leon told DZMM.

Images from authorities in Sarangani province showed destroyed storefronts, collapsed signs, smashed windows and piles of rubble from crumbling concrete.

The Philippines and Indonesia are hit by hundreds of earthquakes every year and are located on tectonically complex parts of the Pacific Ring of Fire, a seismically active belt that extends from South America to the Russian Far East.

The latest quake comes eight months after the Philippines suffered its largest earthquake in 12 years, when a 6.9-magnitude quake struck off the island of Cebu, killing 79 people.

Two powerful earthquakes struck Mindanao two weeks later. The strongest force is estimated at 7.4.

The Philippines and Indonesia are hit by hundreds of earthquakes every year and are located on tectonically complex parts of the Pacific Ring of Fire, a seismically active belt that extends from South America to the Russian Far East.

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