Devastating earthquake in Philippines: at least 19 dead
At least 19 people died in a powerful magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck off the coast of Mindanao island in the southern Philippines, officials said. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing BBC News.
The earthquake occurred on Monday at 07:37 local time (Sunday, 23:37 GMT), triggering tsunami warnings for the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan and Australia. Some of them were lifted a few hours later.
Video and images showed buildings collapsing, including footage of a Jollibee fast-food restaurant reduced to rubble.
According to a local official, at least 134 people were injured in several provinces - South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani - and the city of General Santos. These figures have yet to be verified by the national emergency agency.
Official data from the agency - the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council - usually arrives about a day after the incident. They compile all figures from various sources, including police, local officials and rescue services.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in a statement that agencies are coordinating disaster response. "The national government is acting, 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.
In one video posted by an elementary school in Davao Occidental province, dozens of frightened students are seen crouching on shaking ground. The video also shows a corrugated iron canopy collapsing behind them, although the school reported no injuries.
More than 130 aftershocks with magnitudes ranging from 1.3 to 6.7 were recorded after the initial earthquake.
In the coastal province of Sarangani, the earthquake temporarily disrupted power and communications, but they were later restored.
General Santos, a city near the earthquake's epicenter, is known as the tuna capital of the Philippines. It is also known as the hometown of Manny Pacquiao, the world champion boxer turned politician.
Earthquakes are frequent in the Philippines, which lies on the geologically unstable "Ring of Fire." Although most are minor and pass relatively calmly, 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 reaching its shores. Later, a tsunami wave several centimeters high was recorded in the southern prefecture of Okinawa, and a wave 20 cm (0.7 ft) high was measured 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 m (4.6 ft), according to authorities.