7.8 quake hits southern Philippines; five dead, tsunami warning issued

At least five people have been reported dead after a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of the southern Philippines on Monday morning, triggering tsunami warnings, damaging buildings and prompting large-scale evacuations across several coastal provinces.

Authorities are still assessing the full extent of casualties and destruction caused by the quake, which hit near Mindanao Island, one of the country's most populous and seismically active regions.

Agripino Dacera, disaster management chief in General Santos City, said officials were continuing to verify reports of fatalities and damage as emergency response teams fanned out across affected areas.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the tectonic earthquake struck at 7:37 a.m. local time at a depth of 33 kilometres. The epicentre was located about 32 kilometres southwest of Maasim town in Sarangani province, near General Santos City, home to around 700,000 people.

The tremor was felt across several neighbouring provinces, with local media reporting collapsed structures, power outages and widespread panic as residents rushed outdoors.

Phivolcs issued a tsunami warning for nine coastal provinces and urged residents to move immediately to higher ground or farther inland.

The agency said the highest tsunami wave recorded so far reached 1.4 metres and warned that additional waves could continue for several hours.

"It is forecast that the first tsunami waves will arrive on Monday morning and continue for hours," the institute said.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered disaster response and monitoring operations across affected regions and appealed to residents in vulnerable coastal areas to follow evacuation orders.

Emergency services, local governments and rescue teams have been placed on high alert as authorities assess damage to infrastructure, homes and public utilities.

The earthquake struck offshore near Mindanao, the Philippines' second-largest island, which lies in one of the world's most active seismic zones.

The Philippines experiences frequent earthquakes because it sits along the Pacific Ring of Fire, a vast arc of fault lines and volcanoes stretching around the Pacific Ocean that is prone to major seismic and volcanic activity.

Officials warned that aftershocks remain possible and urged residents to remain vigilant while rescue and assessment operations continue.

With IANS inputs