7.5 magnitude earthquake strikes off southern Philippines, tsunami warnings issued

An earthquake of magnitude 7.5 struck offshore in the southern Philippines on Friday morning, the country’s seismology agency said, with tsunami warnings issued in several countries and people in nearby coastal areas urged to move to higher ground.

The Phivolcs agency warned of damage and aftershocks from the strong quake, which struck in waters off Manay town in Davao Oriental in the Mindanao region.

It revised down the magnitude from an initial reading of 7.6 to 7.5, and put the depth of the quake at 20 km (12 miles).

The U.S. Tsunami Warning System issued a tsunami threat, saying hazardous waves were possible for coasts within 300 km (186 miles) of the earthquake’s epicenter.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said authorities were assessing the situation on the ground, and said search-and-rescue teams would be deployed when it was safe to do so.

“We are working round the clock to ensure that help reaches everyone who needs it,” Marcos said in a statement.

Local authorities in the affected region could not immediately be reached.

Phivolcs called on people in coastal towns in the central and southern Philippines to immediately evacuate to higher ground or move further inland, saying wave heights of more than one metre above normal tides could be expected.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said waves of 1 to 3 metres above tide level were possible in the Philippines.

The earthquake came two weeks after the Philippines experienced its deadliest quake in more than a decade, with 72 people killed on the island of Cebu. That was a magnitude of 6.9 and also struck offshore.

The Philippines sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and experiences more than 800 quakes each year.

A tsunami warning was issued in Indonesia for its northern Sulawesi and Papua regions, and the PTWC said some coasts in Indonesia and the Pacific island nation of Palau could see waves of up to 1 metre.

The governor of Davao Oriental in the Philippines said people panicked when the earthquake struck.

“Some buildings were reported to have been damaged,” Edwin Jubahib told Philippine broadcaster DZMM. “It was very strong.”

The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre put the quake’s magnitude at 7.4 and its depth at 58 km (36 miles).