Philippines earthquake leads to landslides, raising death toll to at least 32

Several people were killed in a southern Philippine province Monday mostly due to a landslide set off by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake, bringing the overall death toll wrought by the quake in the region to 32, officials said.

Rene Punzalan, a disaster-mitigation official of Sarangani province told the DZBB radio network that 13 villagers were killed when a landslide hit houses in the mountainous town of Glan. Four other villagers died in Sarangani for still-unclear unclear reasons, he said.

The newly reported casualties raised the overall death toll in the strongest earthquake to hit the Philippine archipelago this year to at least 32. The quake caused small buildings to collapse and sparked small tsunamis in the southern Philippines and smaller waves that were detected in Indonesia and Palau and as far away as southern Japan.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the threat of a tsunami had largely passed about five hours after the quake struck the southern region of Mindanao. There have been no reports of damage or casualties from the tsunami, Teresito Bacolcol, the director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, said.

The quake was centred at sea at a depth of 33 kilometres, about 32 kilometres southwest of Maasim town in Sarangani province, according to the Philippine institute.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said “the national government is moving and we will not leave Mindanao behind.”

Numerous aftershocks followed quake, which struck at 7:37 a.m. local time. It was also felt in Malaysia. Smaller tsunami waves were detected in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Assessing damage and casualties

General Santos, a southern port city of more than 700,000 people that is a hub for a tuna export industry and other commerce, was among the hardest hit.

At least seven people were killed and about 130 others injured in General Santos, where a few small buildings partially collapsed and several structures, including a key access bridge, sustained dangerous cracks, Rod Sosmeña, regional director of the Office of Civil Defence, told The AP.

Five other people were killed in the southern provinces of South Cotabato and Davao Occidental province, and on Balut Island, Sosmeña and another official, Ednar Dayanghirang, said. Dayanghirang said he was able to “hardly stand and keep my balance when the ground shook as I was leaving my house” in the southern port city of Davao.

Sosmeña said authorities were checking reports of some students being trapped in a two-storey school that collapsed in General Santos. He could not immediately provide details but the national police said at least seven people were missing in General Santos.

Public schools had reopened nationwide Monday after the summer break. Dayanghirang said more than 100 students attending morning flag-raising ceremonies sustained bruises and some fainted in panic.

The international airport in General Santos was temporarily shut, and 17 domestic flights were cancelled, civil aviation officials said.

DZRH radio station in Manila reported that the small commercial building where its provincial branch was located partly collapsed and staffers dashed to the ground floor without injuries. It wasn’t clear if other people were trapped in the rubble of the four-storey office building due to the quake, which struck before office hours.

Debris also fell from other buildings, hitting tricycle taxis parked below.

One metre waves were monitored in the provinces of Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani.

Malaysia’s Meteorological Department issued a tsunami warning for Sabah state on Borneo island. Sabah is just a boat ride away from southern Philippines. An 83-centimetre tsunami was measured by a gauge off Indonesia’s Sulawesi island.

The Philippines, one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries, is often hit by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of seismic faults around the ocean. The archipelago is also lashed by about 20 typhoons and tropical storms each year.