- A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Mindanao, Philippines early Monday
- The quake's epicenter was 24.7 km west-southwest of Burias at 35 km depth
- Tsunami waves were possible in parts of the Philippines and Malaysia
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake centered at sea shook part of the southern Philippines early Monday, causing damage in a key coastal city, knocking down power and setting off 1-meter (3-foot) tsunami waves along nearby coasts, officials said.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. asked people to immediately go to higher ground in Philippine areas vulnerable to a tsunami, and Indonesian and Malaysian authorities also issued warnings to their nearby coastal areas.
There were no immediate reports of casualties, and it was not clear if people were trapped or injured in the collapse of at least one small building in General Santos, a tuna-processing city of more than 700,000 people that is also a commercial hub in the south.
The strongest earthquake to hit the Philippines this year was was centered at sea about 13 kilometers (8 miles) southwest of General Santos and was caused by movement in the Cotabato Trench at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. It struck at 7:37 a.m., the institute's director, Teresito Bacolcol said.
"It's a major earthquake and we're expecting damages and we've already some damaged buildings based on videos we've seen," Bacolcol told The Associated Press.
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-story office building due to the quake, which struck before office hours.
Debris also fell from other buildings, hitting tricycle taxis parked below.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said tsunami waves up to 3 meters (10 feet) were possible on some coasts of the Philippines. Waves up to 1 meter (3 feet) were possible on some coasts of Indonesia and Malaysia.
Bacolcol said 1-meter (3-foot) waves were monitored in the provinces of Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani by land-based tsunami watch stations. Smaller waves were monitored in at least one other province, he said.
"Please heed the tsunami warning. Move to higher ground now. Do not wait. Your life is more important than anything left behind," Marcos told people in quake-hit provinces.
"The national government is moving and we will not leave Mindanao behind," Marcos said and added that disaster-response agencies were on standby to respond.
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-centimeter (2.7-feet) tsunami was measured by a gauge off Indonesia's Sulawesi island.
Smaller sea changes were possible in Taiwan, Japan, Papua New Guinea and several island nations and territories in the western Pacific. An advisory for Guam was lifted about two hours after the quake and there was no threat to Hawaii, the PTWC said.
Aftershocks up to 6.5 magnitude followed, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It measured the original quake at 55 kilometers (34 miles) deep. Variations in measurements by different agencies are common in the immediate aftermath of an earthquake.
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.
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