Philippines Earthquake: At Least 35 Dead, Thousands Displaced

At least 35 people have died after a magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck off the coast of Mindanao island in the southern Philippines, officials say. The quake hit at 07:37 local time on Monday (Sunday 23:37 GMT), triggering tsunami alerts in the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan and Australia. The warnings were cancelled or downgraded hours later. Videos and images showed buildings collapsing, including a clip of a Jollibee fast food restaurant reduced to rubble, and landslides have been recorded in some areas. In an update on Monday afternoon, the country's Office of Civil Defense said 31 of the fatalities had been recorded in Soccsksargen, while the other four were in Davao. Officials in the Philippines have said that at least 134 have been injured and some 10,000 families displaced. Mindanao is the Philippines second-biggest island - both in size and population - and is home to around 26 million people. Casualty numbers still need to be verified by the national disaster agency, which tabulates and verifies reports by various local sources and is expected to provide an official update in the coming days. "The national government is moving and we will not leave Mindanao behind," he promised. Marcos also ordered the suspension of classes in affected areas after the quake, which coincided with the first day of the school year in the Philippines. In one video posted by a primary school in Davao Occidental province, dozens of terrified students can be seen squatting on the shaking ground. The video also showed a corrugated-roof shelter collapsing behind them, though the school said in its post that no-one had been injured. More than 130 aftershocks, with magnitudes ranging from 1.3 to 6.7, were recorded after the initial quake. A magnitude-5.7 earthquake also hit the water off Balut Island, Sarangani, at about 22:52 local time. Earthquakes are common in the Philippines, which sits on the geologically unstable "ring of fire". While most of these quakes are minor and pass relatively peacefully, some have proven deadly. Last September, a magnitude-6.9 earthquake struck the central Visayas region, killing more than 70 people. A tsunami wave measuring a few centimetres was later observed in the southern prefecture of Okinawa, while a 20cm (0.7ft) wave was measured in the distant Ogasawara Islands, authorities said.