Poweful 7.6 magnitude earthquake strikes off southern Philippines, official issue tsunami warnings

Authorities are urging residents of coastal areas to evacuate to elevated areas or move further inland as threats of possible tsunami waves following the offshore earthquake.

A 7.6 magnitude earthquake has struck off the southeastern coast of the Philippines, prompting officials to issue advisory warnings to residents of coastal provinces to  evacuate as they anticipate potential Tsunamis.The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology , or Phivolcs, said it was expecting damage and aftershocks from the earthquake, which was centred at sea about 62 kilometres southeast of Manay town in the Davao Oriental province and was caused by movement in a fault at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres.The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said a “destructive tsunami is expected with life threatening wave heights”. The Philippine agency later assessed the quake at magnitude at 7.6.President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. 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.Children evacuated schools in Davao city, which has about 5.4 million people and is the biggest city near the epicentre, about 250 kilometres west of Davao Oriental.The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Honolulu said hazardous waves were possible within 300 kilometres of the epicentre. It said waves up to 3 metres above normal tides were also possible on some Philippine coasts, and smaller waves were possible in Indonesia and Palau.Office of Civil Defence deputy administrator Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV warned that tsunami waves could hit six nearby coastal provinces from Davao Oriental up to two hours after the earthquake struck at 9:43 am local time.He asked people to immediately move to higher ground or further inland away from coastal areas.“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.“Owners of boats in harbours and those in the coastal areas...should secure their boats and move away from the waterfronts,” he said.Indonesian authorities issued a tsunami warning for northeastern regions of Papua and North Sulawesi, about 275 kilometres from the epicentre.Jakarta’s Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency said in a statement that residents in the area should be aware and stay away from beaches and riverbanks.The Philippines is still recovering from a 6.9 magnitude earthquake which struck on 30 September, killing at least 74 people and displacing thousands of people in the central province of Cebu, particularly Bogo city and its outlying towns.One of the world’s most disaster-prone countries, the Philippines is often hit by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions because of its location on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of seismic faults around the Pacific ocean.The archipelago also falls victim to roughly 20 typhoons and storms annually, making disaster response a major task for the government, international organisations and volunteer groups.