Philippines Hit By Two Strong Quakes, 7.4 and 6.8, At Least 7 Dead - Tsunami Alerts Issued

At least 7 dead after Philippines hit by twin quakes, tsunami warning up

Mikhail Flores

Two powerful offshore earthquakes struck off the southern Philippines on Friday, killing at least seven people, while towns near the epicentre suffered structural damage and authorities warned of strong aftershocks.

The first quake of magnitude 7.4, in waters off the town of Manay in the province of Davao Oriental, triggered a tsunami alert for coasts within 300 km (186 miles) of the epicentre, but the warnings for the Philippines and Indonesia were subsequently lifted.

A second earthquake of magnitude 6.8 struck the same area seven hours later, triggering a new tsunami warning, with the country's seismology agency Phivolcs warning of possible waves that could be more than one metre (3.2 feet) higher than normal tides.

People living near coastal areas in the southern Philippines were "strongly advised to immediately evacuate" to higher ground, or move further inland, it said in an advisory.

Phivolcs Director Teresito Bacolcol described the twin earthquakes as a "doublet", two distinct earthquakes that occurred along a massive trench off the country's eastern seaboard.

There were initial reports of damage to homes, buildings and bridges, one official in Manay said, although the full extent of the damage in the Philippines was not immediately clear.

At least seven people were killed, civil defence official Ednar Dayanghirang said in a briefing. The fatalities were reported in towns and cities near the earthquake's epicentre.

The twin quakes were among the strongest in recent years to hit the Philippines

Massive earthquakes in Philippines: What we know so far

Priyanka Shankar

A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck off the coast of the southern Philippines on Friday, killing at least six people and triggering a second, magnitude 6.9 earthquake later in the day, according to local authorities. Tsunami warnings were issued after each quake.

Friday’s earthquakes come just 10 days after another deadly earthquake hit the central Philippines, killing at least 79 people and injuring hundreds.

The first earthquake struck at a depth of 43 kilometres (27 miles) at 9:43am local time (01:43 GMT) on Friday, off the coast of Manay town in Davao Oriental in the Mindanao region of the southern Philippines, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).

Phivolcs also warned of aftershocks and issued a tsunami warning for the surrounding region, saying it expected waves larger than 1 metre (3.3ft). Coastal residents have been “strongly advised to immediately evacuate to higher grounds or move farther inland”, the agency said soon after the earthquake struck.

Then, at around 7pm (11:00am GMT) a second earthquake of magnitude 6.9 jolted Manay town, Phivolcs said. It issued a new Tsunami warning, expecting waves in the following two hours that it said could be more than a metre higher than normal tides.

“The second one is a separate earthquake, which we call a doublet quake,” Phivolcs chief Teresito Bacolcol told The Associated Press.

“Both happened in the same area but have different strengths and epicentres.”

Richie Diuyen, a disaster official in Manay, close to the epicentre, said the quake lasted for 30-40 seconds and some houses, the facade of a church, roads and bridges were damaged.

“We couldn’t stand earlier. I am 46 years old now, and this is the strongest earthquake I ever felt,” Diuyen told the Reuters news agency.

“The damage is quite big,” she added.

The governor of Davao Del Norte told Philippines’ radio station DZMM that people and employees in the region’s capital Tagum “are really panicking”.

“And there are also buildings with damage that have been reported [to us],” he added.