A magnitude-7.8 earthquake in the southern Philippines yesterday killed at least 35 people, provincial authorities said.
The earthquake toppled buildings and sparked tsunami warnings across the region.
National disaster authorities said at least a dozen people were still missing, while 134 were injured.
Photo: Reuters
Philippine authorities urged people in affected coastal regions to move to higher ground after the offshore quake hit south of General Santos, a city of about 720,000, where at least nine were killed.
A series of powerful aftershocks rocked the area from about two hours after the first quake, according to the US Geological Survey.
In General Santos, rescue workers yesterday afternoon dug through the rubble of a grocery store chain to reach the bodies of two employees buried beneath.
Rene Punzalan, disaster chief for hard-hit Sarangani Province, said that 14 people had died in Glan municipality alone when a landslide buried their homes at the foot of a mountain.
“The landslide happened immediately after the earthquake, so many lives were lost,” he said, adding that some areas had yet to report if they had sustained casualties.
“The greatest challenge is communication. The power was cut, so it’s hard to get updates,” Punzalan said.
“We’re worried about aftershocks,” he added. “We can feel the fear of the residents.”
Videos posted to social media and verified by Agence France-Presse showed a shopping centre with a Jollibee fast food restaurant reduced to rubble in General Santos City, while a school building that officials said was unoccupied crumpled in another.
In another video, schoolchildren could be seen screaming in the arms of their teachers as the quake violently swayed them back and forth on the ground.
A flimsy metal structure in the background collapsed as the video uploaded to the school’s social media page came to an end. An accompanying caption said no one was under the structure when it fell.
More than 2,000 people evacuated due to a morning tsunami warning were awaiting a green light to return to their homes, Punzalan said.
“[Authorities] are still assessing the situation now if it will be okay to send them home,” he said.
The Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that all Taiwanese in the area were safe.
It added that its representative office has been instructed to express condolences and concern, and that it would continue to monitor the situation and assess disaster relief needs in the Philippines following the earthquake, including the possibility of providing further assistance.
As of 6pm yesterday, the Tourism Administration said it had not received any reports of Taiwanese tour groups being affected by the earthquake.
The Central Weather Administration said that, based on alerts from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center and its own calculations, estimated wave heights were all below 30cm — well under the threshold for a tsunami warning.
Taiwan was not included in the affected areas in subsequent updates, but authorities continue to monitor the situation and would issue alerts if needed, it said.
Additional reporting by Huang Chin-hsuan and Hunag Yi-ching
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