At least 35 dead as deadly earthquake rocks Philippines

GENERAL SANTOS: At least 35 people were killed and 134 injured after a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck off the Philippine island of Mindanao, toppling bui­ldings and triggering temporary tsunami warnings.

The offshore quake hit early in the morning, about 20 kilometres south of Sarangani province, striking just as schools were returning from a long break.

National disaster aut­ho­rities reported that at least a dozen people remained missing as military and disaster response teams were mobilised to search through the rubble.

In the hard-hit municipality of Glan in Saran­g­ani, a landslide buried ho­­mes at the foot of a mountain. Rene Punza­lan, the provincial disaster chief, said 14 people died there alone.

“The landslide happened immediately after the earthquake, so many lives were lost,” Punzalan said, adding that power outages complicated rescue efforts. “The greatest challenge is communication. The power was cut, so it’s hard to get updates.”

In nearby General Santos, a city of about 700,000 people, the local command centre tallied 12 deaths. Rescue workers used their bare hands as night fell to dig through the rubble of a collapsed grocery store, desperately trying to reach two trapped employees.

Morphy Angcad, a 35-year-old security guard, refused to leave the site where his sister was buried.

Dioslinda Deluvio, the mother of the other trap­ped employee, recalled her son visiting her weeks earlier. “All I can do is cry now, imagining the good things he did in the world,” she said.

Tremors were felt 420 kilometres away in Man­a­­do, Indonesia. Jojo Calma, a 44-year-old tricycle taxi driver in General Santos, watched a fast-food outlet collapse into a cloud of dust.

The Philippine seismology agency recorded more than 200 aftershocks, with the strongest measuring a magnitude 6.7, preventing authorities from conducting structural assessme­nts. Fearing further colla­pses, many residents prepared to spend the night outdoors. Infrastructure damage left many without basic utilities.

Philippine President Fer­­dinand Marcos Jr. suspended classes across Mi­­ndanao and ordered an im­­mediate disaster resp­onse. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre initially issued notices for the coasts of the Philippines, Indone­sia, Palau, Taiwan, and Papua New Guinea.