MANILA, June 8: An offshore magnitude 7.8 earthquake rocked the southern Philippines on Monday, killing at least 35 people, injuring more than 200 others mostly in damaged buildings and sending a 1-metre (3-foot) tsunami into nearby coasts.
A few buildings collapsed and key infrastructure sustained quake damage in the city of General Santos, and tsunami damage was reported in at least one coastal village. Smaller waves were measured in Indonesia and Palau and as far away as southern Japan.
The quake also triggered a landslide in Sarangani province in the southern Philippines that killed 13 villagers. Rene Punzalan, a disaster-mitigation official for the province, told the DZBB radio network that the landslide hit houses in the mountainous town of Glan. Four other villagers died in Sarangani for still-unclear unclear reasons, he said.
General Santos is a port city of more than 7 lakh people that is a regional hub for the tuna export industry and other commerce.
The quake, the strongest to strike the country this year, was centered at sea off Mindanao, the second most populous island in the Philippine archipelago. According to Bacolcol, the quake occurred at a depth of 33 kilometres (20 miles), about 32 kilometres (20 miles) southwest of Maasim town in Sarangani province.
At least 19 people were killed, mostly in collapsed buildings and landslides, while thousands of villagers were displaced, Office of Civil Defense spokesperson Junie Castillo said without providing specific details.
The other deaths were caused by falling debris, a damaged mosque and a landslide in the southern provinces of Sarangani, South Cotabato and Davao Occidental and on Balut Island, Sosmena and another reginal disaster-response official, Ednar Dayanghirang, said.
The international airport in General Santos was temporarily shut, and 17 domestic flights were canceled, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said.
Tsunami waves
Waves of 1 metre (3 feet) were generally monitored in the provinces of Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani. A 1.4-metre (4.6-foot) wave was monitored at one time in the coastal area of Kiamba town in Sarangani, Bacolcol said.
The quake was also felt in Malaysia’s Sabah state on Borneo island. Sabah is just a boat ride away from southern Philippines.
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 lashed by about 20 typhoons and tropical storms each year. (AP)
