Philippines warns of ‘destructive tsunami’ after magnitude 7.6 quake

AFP | Manila                                                        

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

A powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck the southern Philippines yesterday, the US Geological Survey said, as local authorities warned of a “destructive tsunami” and urged people in coastal areas to flee.

The quake struck at a depth of 32 kilometres (20 miles) at 10:37 pm local time (1437 GMT), about 21 kilometres northeast of Hinatuan municipality in Surigao del Sur province on Mindanao island, the USGS said.

“Destructive tsunami is expected with life threatening wave heights,” the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said on X, formerly Twitter. It said waves of more than one metre above the normal tides were expected to hit the coast and advised people in Surigao del Sur and Davao Oriental provinces to “immediately evacuate” to higher ground or further inland.

Owners of boats were told to secure their vessels and move away from the shore. Powerful aftershocks of up to magnitude 6.4 continued to shake the region into early Sunday after the first quake hit, the USGS said. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage but Hinatuan police Sergeant Joseph Lambo said the quake was “very strong”. “Appliances fell off the shelves at the police office and two TV sets were broken.

The motorcycles parked outside also tumbled down,” Lambo told AFP. “Right now we don’t have reports of damage or casualties but people are evacuating because of the tsunami alert.” Lambo said the 45,000 residents in the municipality had been ordered to leave their homes and many were going on foot or in vehicles to higher ground. Dyl Constantino, 25, was on Siargao Island, northeast of Mindanao, when the quake struck.