Powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake strikes off coast of Philippines, prompts tsunami warning

Manila, Philippines — A 7.4-magnitude earthquake Friday morning off the southern Philippines killed at least two people, damaged a hospital and schools, knocked out power and prompted evacuations of coastal areas nearby due to a possible tsunami.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., facing his latest natural disaster after a previous, deadly earthquake and back-to-back storms, said the potential damage was being assessed and rescue teams and relief operations were being prepared and would be deployed when it was safe to do so.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said it was expecting damage and aftershocks from the quake, which was centered at sea about 27 miles east of Manay town in Davao Oriental province and was caused by movement in the Philippine Trench at a depth of 14 miles. But it canceled a tsunami warning it had issued.

At least two people died after being pinned in damaged houses in Davao Oriental, provincial Governor Nelson Dayanghirang Sr. told ABS-CBN News Channel, adding that about 250 patients were evacuated from a damaged hospital and would be temporarily housed in tents.

Office of Civil Defense deputy administrator Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV said several buildings sustained cracks in their walls, including an international airport in Davao city, but it remained operational without any flights being canceled, Alejandro said.

“I was driving my car when it suddenly swayed and I saw powerlines swaying wildly. People darted out of houses and buildings as the ground shook and electricity came off,” Jun Saavedra, a disaster-mitigation officer of Gov. Generoso town in Davao Oriental, told The Associated Press by cellphone.

“We’ve had earthquakes in the past, but this was the strongest,” Saavedra said, adding that the intense ground swaying caused cracks in several buildings, including a high school from which about 50 students were brought to a hospital by ambulance after sustaining bruises, fainting or becoming dizzy due to the earthquake.

Gov. Generoso is a town about  62 miles south of Manay, where classes at all levels were also suspended.

Wes Caasi, a local official in Tagum city, northwest of Manay, told French news agency AFP that a government event at the city hall was thrown into chaos as “the people panicked, they screamed and ran.”

Caasi said he saw city workers scrambling down a 202-meter (220 yard)-high metal Christmas tree they were decorating when the quake hit.

Other witnesses said they saw students and workers poured out of schools, office buildings and shopping malls. 

Children evacuated schools in Davao city, which has about 5.4 million people and is the biggest city near the epicenter, about 155 miles west of Davao Oriental province.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu said small waves were detected on the coasts of the Philippines and Indonesia before the threat passed about two hours after the quake. It said small sea fluctuations may continue. 

Alejandro warned that tsunami waves could hit six nearby coastal provinces from Davao Oriental up to two hours after the temblor struck at 9:43 a.m. “We urge these coastal communities to be on alert and immediately evacuate to higher grounds until further notice,” Alejandro said in a video news briefing.

Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency said small tsunami waves were detected in North Sulawesi province with heights ranging from 1.3 to 6.7 inches in Melonguane, Beo, Essang and Ganalo in Talaud Islands districts.

The Philippines is still recovering from a Sept. 30 earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 that left at least 74 people dead and displaced thousands of people in the central province of Cebu, particularly in Bogo city and outlying towns.

The archipelago also is lashed by about 20 typhoons and storms each year, making disaster response a major task of the government and volunteer groups.

Also Friday, an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.0 struck off the coast of Papua New Guinea. The U.S. Geological Survey said it was centered in the Bismarck Sea 257 miles northeast of Lae, the South Pacific island nation’s second-most populous city.

Lae police official Mary Jane Huafilong said no damage was reported.