Rescue workers comb through the rubble after the death toll from the Philippine earthquake rose to 37 people

General Santos (Philippines) – Rescue workers searched on Tuesday among the rubble of a collapsed building in the city of General Santos in the southern Philippines, the city most affected by a strong earthquake that killed at least 37 people and injured hundreds, to reach two people believed to be still trapped inside.

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Edgar Tanauan, the regional fire officer leading the operation, told Reuters that two people were recovered alive from the commercial building, which houses a grocery store and other businesses, but a third person was found dead. He added that scanners have not yet detected any signs of life from the remaining two.

“It’s hard as a mother to accept that my son is still trapped there,” said a distraught Dioslinda Deulofeu as she waited outside the building for news of her son. “I don’t know…it’s so hard to accept.

“My only request is that he be restored today so we can be at peace,” the 65-year-old mother said.

A rescuer walks next to a damaged building following an earthquake in General Santos, Philippines, on Tuesday. Basilio Sepe/AP

The 7.8-magnitude quake, which sparked tsunami warnings in several countries, occurred early Monday morning about 12 miles off the coast of Sarangani province, with tremors felt strongly throughout Mindanao and as far as the city of Manado, 260 miles away on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.

Officials said they hoped the death toll would not rise further as search and rescue operations continued, with more than 400 people injured and four still missing.

Scenes of devastation were seen in parts of General Santos, which is home to more than 700,000 people and is now in a state of disaster, with several buildings collapsed and debris scattered in the streets under a tangle of power lines and collapsed utility poles.

A damaged building after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in General Santos City, Philippines, on Monday. Edwin Espejo/AFP via Getty Images

Philippine disaster officials combed damaged buildings to assess damage and worked to restore power and water to thousands of residents affected by the disaster. The earthquake came eight months after the country suffered its largest earthquake in 12 years, when a 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck off the central island of Cebu, killing 79 people.

The Philippines witnesses hundreds of earthquakes every year and is 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.

Schools, which had just reopened on Monday after a long hiatus, remained closed while authorities examined the condition of school buildings, thousands of which sustained minor to severe damage, Rafaelito Alejandro, head of the Civil Defense Office, told DZBB radio.

Sidi, a rescue dog, is carried by a rescue worker as they search for survivors under the rubble of a building that collapsed following a 7.8-magnitude earthquake, Tuesday in General Santos, Philippines. Ezra Acayan/Getty Images

A video clip published by a school at the moment of the earthquake showed a large group of children sitting on the ground and swaying violently from side to side, some of them hugging teachers, before they fled en masse after a temporary shelter collapsed behind them.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) recorded 23 strong aftershocks, the strongest of which measured 6.7, forcing some residents to spend the night in evacuation centers and tents.

Patients in General Santos and Sarangani were treated in temporary tents while officials worked to ensure the safety of hospitals, Health Minister Teodoro Herbosa told DZBB, adding that restoring power was crucial because power outages limit access to sensitive and sophisticated treatments that patients need.

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