Japan’s weather agency issued tsunami advisories for coastal areas spanning from Ibaraki Prefecture to Okinawa after a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the southern Philippines. The earthquake, reported by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, occurred at a depth of 33 km with the epicenter southwest of Maasim town in Sarangani Province on Mindanao Island. Following the quake, a tsunami warning was issued for nine coastal provinces, urging residents to evacuate to higher ground immediately.
The first tsunami waves were expected to hit on Monday morning and persist for hours. Reports from local media indicated that the earthquake caused damage to buildings, power outages, and tremors in neighboring provinces. While there were no immediate reports of significant damage or casualties in Indonesia or the Philippines, areas closest to the epicenter felt strong tremors. The earthquake took place near Mindanao, the Philippines’ second-largest island, known for its high seismic activity due to its location along the Pacific “Ring of Fire.”
Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency also issued an early tsunami warning for northeastern coastal areas following the earthquake in the southern Philippines.
