At least 32 people have died in a powerful magnitude 7.8 earthquake off the coast of Mindanao island in the southern Philippines, officials say. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing BBC News.
The earthquake struck at 07:37 local time on Monday (Sunday, 23:37 GMT), triggering tsunami warnings for the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan and Australia. Some of these were lifted hours later.
Video and images show destroyed buildings, including footage of a Jollibee fast-food restaurant reduced to rubble, and landslides in some areas.
According to authorities, more than 100 people were injured in several provinces, nearly two dozen are missing, and 10,000 residents were evacuated as a precaution.
Mindanao is the second largest island in the Philippines by both size and population, with about 26 million people.
The death toll has yet to be confirmed by the national emergency agency, which is collecting and verifying reports from various local sources and is expected to provide an official update in the coming days.
Local authorities in the coastal province of Sarangani, about 20 km from the epicenter, reported 17 deaths there, many from a landslide. The earthquake temporarily disrupted power and communications in Sarangani, but they were later restored.
In General Santos, the nearest city to the epicenter, 10 people died, the Office of Civil Defense said. Another 22 people are missing. General Santos, known as the "tuna capital" of the Philippines, is also the hometown of Manny Pacquiao, the world boxing champion turned politician.
South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat were also badly affected.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in a statement that agencies are coordinating disaster response. "The national government is working, and we will not abandon Mindanao," he promised.
Marcos also ordered the suspension of classes in affected areas after the earthquake, which coincided with the first day of the school year in the Philippines.
One video posted by an elementary school in Davao Occidental province shows dozens of frightened students crouching on shaking ground. The video also shows a corrugated iron canopy collapsing behind them, although the school said no one was injured.
More than 130 aftershocks with magnitudes ranging from 1.3 to 6.7 have been recorded since the initial earthquake.
Earthquakes are common in the Philippines, which lies on the geologically unstable "Ring of Fire." While most are minor and pass relatively quietly, some are deadly. In September last year, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck the central Visayas region, killing more than 70 people.
Shortly after the earthquake on Monday morning, Japanese authorities warned of tsunami waves up to one meter high that could reach its shores. Later, a tsunami wave several centimeters high was recorded in the southern prefecture of Okinawa, and a 20 cm wave on the remote Ogasawara Islands, authorities said. Waves were also detected in several locations along the coasts of Indonesia, Palau and the Philippines. The height of these waves ranged from a few centimeters to 1.4 meters, according to authorities.