A 7.8-magnitude earthquake strikes the southern Philippines, causing 4 deaths, damage, and a tsunami

MANILA, Philippines — A 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked the southern Philippines early Monday, damaging buildings and a major access bridge in a major southern city and triggering a 3-foot tsunami that washed ashore on nearby coasts. Officials said at least four people were killed and more than 200 others were injured.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. urged people to go to higher ground in tsunami-prone Philippine areas, and Indonesian and Malaysian authorities also issued warnings for nearby coastal areas.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the tsunami threat had largely passed about five hours after the quake, which struck at 7:37 a.m. But it still urges people to remain alert and heed warnings from local authorities as sea levels may fluctuate for a few more hours.

The strongest earthquake to hit the Philippines this year was centered offshore about 8 miles southwest of General Santos City, a city of more than 700,000 people that is a center for tuna processing and other trade in the archipelagic nation’s southern Mindanao region.

The Philippine leader said disaster response agencies are ready to respond. “The national government is moving, and we will not leave Mindanao behind,” Marcos said.

Damage and at least 4 deaths in the Philippines

At least three people were killed and 130 others injured in General Santos, where a few small buildings at least partially collapsed and several structures, including the main access bridge, suffered serious cracks, Rod Sosmina, regional director of the Office of Civil Defense, told The Associated Press.

The Department of Health said another person died in Davao Oriental province due to the earthquake.

There were no immediate reports of people trapped in partially collapsed buildings in General Santos due to the quake, said Sosmina, who was on her way to work when the ground shook violently.

“Our pickup truck suddenly shook, and I thought we had a flat tire,” Sosmina told the AP by phone from General Santos. “People rushed from homes to the streets.”

Civil aviation officials said that the international airport in General Santos was temporarily closed due to the earthquake, and 17 domestic flights were cancelled.

Ednar Dayanghirang, director of the civil defense office in a nearby southern district, said more than 100 students attending the morning flag-raising ceremony were bruised and some fainted due to panic at various primary and secondary schools.

“I personally couldn’t stand up and keep my balance when the ground shook as I was leaving my house,” Dayanghirang told the AP by phone from southern Davao, a major coastal city in the southern Philippines.

DZRH radio station in Manila reported that a small commercial building housing its regional branch partially collapsed, and employees rushed to the ground floor without injuries. It was not clear whether there were other people trapped under the rubble of the four-story administrative building. Debris also fell from other buildings, hitting tricycle taxis parked below.

The quake was caused by movement in the Cotabato Trench at a depth of 6.2 miles, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.

“It is a major earthquake, we expect damage, and we have already seen some damaged buildings based on the videos we have seen,” institute director Teresito Paculcol told the Associated Press.

Tsunami waves measured near 3 feet

Pakulkul said that waves measuring 3 feet high were detected in the Philippine provinces of Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani through land-based tsunami monitoring stations. He added that smaller waves were detected in at least one other province.

Marcos told people in the provinces affected by the quake: “Please heed the tsunami warning. Move to higher ground now. Don’t wait. Your lives are more important than anything you leave behind.”

The Malaysian Meteorological Department issued a tsunami warning in the state of Sabah on the island of Borneo. Sabah is located a short boat ride from the south of the Philippines. A 2.7-foot tsunami was measured by a gauge off the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.

Smaller sea changes are possible in Papua New Guinea and in places in the western Pacific, the PTWC said. There was no threat to Hawaii.

The US Geological Survey measured aftershocks of up to 6.5 magnitude. It reported that the depth of the original quake was 34 miles. Variations in measurements by different agencies are common in the immediate aftermath of an earthquake.

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 hit by about 20 hurricanes and tropical storms every year.

Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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