The southern Philippines was rocked by a powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake that struck in the region of Mindanao on Friday, initially triggering a tsunami warning that was later lifted.
The Philippine seismology agency issued a tsunami warning, saying hazardous tsunami waves were possible for coasts located within 300km (186 miles) of the earthquake’s epicentre. Hours later the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the tsunami threat had passed.
The Philippine seismology office said damage and aftershocks were expected as footage shared on social media of the quake hitting showed people in the Philippines crouching on the ground, bracing themselves on all fours to keep their balance as the ground shook violently beneath them. Motorcycles were knocked over by the force of the tremor.
People in Tagum city were also heard praying in videos posted on social media, saying “Save us, Lord,” as debris from a mall fell around them.
Dozens of patients at the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) were also shown fleeing the hospital building. The governor of the southern Philippine province of Davao Oriental said people panicked when the earthquake struck.
“Some buildings were reported to have been damaged,” Edwin Jubahib told broadcaster DZMM. “It was very strong.”
Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said authorities were assessing the situation on the ground, and search and rescue efforts were being prepared.
“We are working round the clock to ensure that help reaches everyone who needs it,” Marcos said.
The Philippine Phivolcs agency said the quake struck in waters off the town of Manay town in the Mindanao region at a depth of 10km.
Christine Sierte, a teacher in the town of Compostela near Manay, told Agence France-Presse she was in the middle of an online meeting when the violent shaking started.
“It was very slow at first then it got stronger… That’s the longest time of my life. We weren’t able to walk out of the building immediately because the shaking was so strong,” she said.
“The ceilings of some offices fell, but luckily no one was injured,” she said, though some of the school’s 1,000-odd students “suffered panic attacks and difficulty in breathing”.
Kath Cortez, a local journalist based in Davao city to the west of Manay, told the news agency the ground floor walls of her family’s house were showing small cracks.
“I was surprised by the strength,” she said, adding members of her family ran out of the house.
The strong earthquake hit just ten days after a deadly 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit Bogo City in Cebu province, which left 71 people dead. Aftershocks are still being felt in the area.
Neighbouring Indonesia also issued an earlier tsunami warning for its regions of North Sulawesi and Papua, according to its geophysics agency.
The Philippines sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and experiences more than 800 quakes each year. The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre put the quake’s magnitude at 7.4 and its depth at 58 km (36 miles).
