By Angelyn Tesudo
MANILA — A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the southern Philippines on Monday, killing at least 19 people, injuring more than 200 others mostly in damaged buildings and sending a one-metre (3-foot) tsunami into nearby coasts.
The quake struck off the island of Mindanao shortly before 7:40 am local time (2340 GMT Sunday), according to the United States Geological Survey.
Twelve people were killed in the Soccsksargen region of Mindanao island, regional civil defence director Rodrigo Sosmeña said, adding 129 people had been injured there. Three more fatalities were recorded in Davao Occidental province.
Among the dead were seven people in General Santos, where a few small buildings — including a popular hamburger joint — collapsed or were severely damaged.
A series of powerful aftershocks rocked the area from about two hours after the first quake, with the largest measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale, according to the USGS.
Police spokesperson Robert Dagun told a local radio station that parts of St Elizabeth Hospital in General Santos City were severely damaged, forcing patients and medical personnel to evacuate and temporarily operate outside the main building.
Philippine authorities urged people in affected coastal regions to move to higher ground after the offshore quake hit south of General Santos, a city of about 720,000.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the threat of a tsunami largely passed about five hours after the quake. Six shanties on stilts were damaged in a coastal village in Zamboanga del Sur due to the quake and taller waves, officials said. Smaller waves were also detected as far away as southern Japan.
The Department of Public Works and Highways said damage to property in General Santos City alone had reached one billion pesos (approximately $17.5 million). “This is one of the strongest earthquakes in the world this year,” Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon said.
More than 3.2 million students were affected by the quake, according to the Department of Education, with approximately 6,224 schools across five regions impacted. The department activated emergency response mechanisms and began structural safety inspections of school facilities.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said emergency agencies had been activated, including the Office of Civil Defence and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, and ordered the closure of schools in affected areas. “The safety of our children comes first,” he said.
Marcos said “the national government is moving and we will not leave Mindanao behind.”
The Philippines, one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries, is regularly hit by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire.” The archipelago is also lashed by about 20 typhoons and tropical storms each year.- With Inputs from Agencies
