Overview:
A powerful magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck the southern Philippines on Monday morning, killing at least 15 people, injuring more than 100 and triggering tsunami warnings across parts of the western Pacific. Authorities continue rescue and damage assessments as aftershocks shake the region and coastal communities remain on alert.
In short:
(ABC-Australia) A magnitude-7.8 earthquake has hit the Mindanao region in the southern Philippines.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the threat of a tsunami had largely passed about five hours after the 7:37am quake.
The Philippine leader said disaster-response agencies were on standby to respond.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-08/tsunami-threat-after-philippines-earthquake/106771808
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A powerful magnitude-7.8 earthquake rocked the southern Philippines, damaging buildings and setting off a 1 metre tsunami that washed ashore on nearby coasts.
Philippine authorities were assessing the damage from the quake, with the office of civil defence seeking to verifying initial reports that 15 people had been killed and 129 injured in the region, mostly from falling debris.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the threat of a tsunami had largely passed about five hours after the 7:37am quake.
But it still urged people to stay alert and to heed warnings from local authorities as sea levels may fluctuate for a few more hours.
“Many buildings were affected, but I cannot enumerate them now because we are busy with ongoing rescues,” Master Sergeant Robert Dagon of the General Santos City police said.
“Several buildings collapsed. Some houses also collapsed.”
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr urged people to go to higher ground in areas vulnerable to a tsunami, and Indonesian and Malaysian authorities also issued warnings to their nearby coastal areas.
The Philippine leader said disaster-response agencies were on standby to respond.
“The national government is moving and we will not leave Mindanao behind,” he said.
The epicentre was 13 kilometres south-west of General Santos City on the island of Mindanao and had a depth of 10 kilometres, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
It struck at 7:37am on Monday, local time.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) said tsunami waves up to 3 metres were possible on some coasts of the Philippines.
Waves up to 1 metre were possible on some coasts of Indonesia and Malaysia.
“We advise people to evacuate to higher grounds or go further inland,” Teresito Bacolcol, the head of the Philippine volcanology institute, warned people living in coastal areas.
Indonesia has ordered evacuations of northern areas threatened by tsunami waves, including the North Sulawesi capital, Manado, northern Gorontalo province and the Sangihe islands.
The PTWC said smaller tsunami waves were possible in Taiwan, Japan, Guam, Papua New Guinea and several island nations and territories in the western Pacific.
Japanese authorities issued a tsunami advisory along swathes of its Pacific coast, with the country’s meteorological agency saying that tsunamis of up to 1 metre were projected to hit different regions from 11:30am, local time.
There was no threat to Hawaii or the American mainland coast, the PTWC said.
Residents also felt the earthquake tremors in north-central Indonesia, and tsunami waves up to 18 centimetres were recorded on some coasts of North Sulawesi and North Maluku provinces.
Aftershocks up to magnitude-6.1 followed, the US Geological Survey said.
It measured the original quake at a depth of 55 kilometres. Variations in measurements by different agencies are common in the immediate aftermath of an earthquake.
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/AFP