A 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck the island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines on Saturday, the American Institute of Geophysics (USGS) announced, with authorities calling on people to move away from coastal regions in the face of risk. of “destructive tsunami”. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 32 km at 10:37 p.m. (2:37 p.m. GMT) at a distance of about 21 km northeast of Hinatuan, the USGS said. “A destructive tsunami is expected with wave heights posing a threat to lives,” the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said on X.
“Evacuate immediately”
He advised residents of Surigao South and Davao Oriental provinces to “immediately evacuate” further inland or to higher terrain. Boat owners were called to secure their boats. Aftershocks, including one reaching magnitude 6.4, then continued to shake the region, according to the USGS. No casualties or damage were immediately reported, but according to police officer Joseph Lambo in Hinatuan, the earthquake was “very strong”.
“People are evacuating because of the tsunami warning,” he said, adding that 45,000 residents had been ordered to leave their homes and that many of them were trying to reach higher altitudes. on foot or by car.
“We panicked”
“Home appliances fell from the shelves in the police office and two televisions were broken. Motorcycles parked outside also fell,” continued Joseph Lambo. Dyl Constantino, 25, was on the island of Siargo, northeast of Mindanao, when the earthquake struck. “It was the longest and strongest earthquake I have ever experienced, it probably lasted almost four minutes,” he assured AFP. “We are all used to earthquakes but this one was different because the doors were really shaking and we all panicked,” he added.
Bethanie Valledor, 24, was sleeping in a hotel complex in the town of Bislig, about twenty kilometers southwest of Hinatuan, when the earthquake startled her awake. “I had the impression that the room we were in was going to be destroyed,” the young woman told AFP. “Our house is very close to the sea. The owner of the complex asked us to evacuate immediately. Honestly, I was screaming. I panicked.”
In Davao City, the coast is closely monitored. “The tide is still high and we don’t notice anything unusual,” said Anna Quinones, a natural disaster official who monitors the risk of tsunamis. Earthquakes occur daily in the Philippines, as the archipelago is located on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, a zone of intense seismic and volcanic activity that stretches from Japan to the Pacific Basin through Asia from the South-East. Most are too faint to be felt by humans. A 6.7 magnitude earthquake already struck the Mindanao island region on November 17, killing at least nine people.