Tsunami warning issued as 7.6 magnitude earthquake hits southern Philippines

A strong earthquake of magnitude 7.6 struck offshore in the southern Philippines on Friday, its seismology agency said, with tsunami warnings issued in several countries and people in nearby coastal areas urged to move inland or to higher ground, Reuters writes.

Agency Phivolcs warned of aftershocks from the quake, which struck in the morning in waters off Manay town in Davao Oriental in the Mindanao region. At least one person was killed, civil defence official Raffy Alejandro said on Facebook.

Residents of coastal areas in the central and southern Philippines have been urged to immediately evacuate to higher ground or move inland, as wave heights could exceed one meter above normal.

The U.S. Tsunami Warning System issued a tsunami threat immediately after the quake, saying hazardous waves were possible for coasts within 300 km (186 miles) of the earthquake’s epicenter. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said waves of 1-3 metres were possible in the Philippines, and up to 1 metre along some coasts of Indonesia and Palau.

The governor of Davao Oriental in the Philippines said people panicked when the earthquake struck.

“Some buildings were reported to have been damaged,” Edwin Jubahib told Philippine broadcaster DZMM. “It was very strong.”

Local authorities have not yet been able to establish contact with the affected areas.

The earthquake came two weeks after the Philippines experienced its deadliest quake in more than a decade, with 74 people killed on the island of Cebu. That was a magnitude of 6.9 and also struck offshore.

The quake was among the strongest in recent years to hit the Philippines, which sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and experiences more than 800 quakes each year.