An offshore magnitude 7.8 earthquake has rocked the southern Philippines on Monday
At least 19 people have d!ed with more than 200 others injured.
The quake also sent 1-meter (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.
“It’s a major earthquake,” Teresito Bacolcol, the director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said, warning people to seek advise before returning to damaged buildings and houses which could collapse due to aftershocks.
“Our pickup truck suddenly jerked and I thought we had a flat tire,” said Rod Sosmeña, regional director of the Office of Civil Defense, told The Associated Press from the hard-hit port city of General Santos, where he was traveling when the quake struck at 7:37 a.m.
“The shaking was very strong and people dashed out of houses into the streets,” Sosmeña said.
Another regional disaster-response official, Ednar Dayanghirang, told The AP that he was able to “hardly stand and keep my balance when the ground shook as I was leaving my house” in the southern port city of Davao.
General Santos is a port city of more than 700,000 people that is a regional hub for the tuna export industry and other commerce.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the cancellation of classes and directed disaster-response agencies to immediately get to work in quake-hit provinces, saying “the national government is moving and we will not leave Mindanao behind.”
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