Authorities reported that a Friday earthquake of a magnitude of 6.7 slammed the southern Philippines, leaving one person dead, others injured, and buildings damaged.
A 60-kilometer depth was reached by the earthquake, according to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), off the island of Mindanao.
According to an initial assessment, at least one person died and eighteen people were injured, according to Angel Dugaduga, a disaster response officer in the coastal town of Glan, which is close to the epicentre.
The town’s gymnasium and municipal office building sustained damage from the earthquake, and Dugaduga noted that the shock also cut out the electricity.
The Philippines, which is situated on the ‘Ring of Fire,’ a belt of volcanoes that circles the Pacific Ocean and is prone to seismic activity, experiences earthquakes frequently.
A tsunami was not anticipated, according to the Pacific Tsunamic Warning Centre and the Philippine seismology organisation PHIVOLCS. The police chief of the neighbouring city of Koronadal, Amor Mio, stated that although there had been no reports of casualties, authorities were inspecting a mall that had allegedly sustained damage.
‘The employees were ordered evacuated for their safety. According to police in the area, there was extensive damage but we could not ascertain yet the extent,’ Mio said by telephone.
Teresito Bacolcol, director of PHIVOLCS, stated on DZRH radio that the earthquake was ‘destructive, so we would expect damage.’
He claimed that the earthquake persisted for many seconds and warned the locals to be on the lookout for aftershocks as powerful as magnitude 6.2.
Leny Aranego, a radio announcer in General Santos City, near Glan, reported that the earthquake rattled desks and buildings. He said to the radio station DZRH, ‘We saw how the walls cracked and computers fell.’
In a Facebook post, economist Michael Ricafort of the institution RCBC stated that travellers at the General Santos City airport were taken to the tarmac for safety.
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