7.5 earthquake in the Philippines: “It was very strong.” Tsunami alert in several countries
Children evacuated to Davao City after a strong earthquake in the Philippines. Photo: Manman Dejeto / AP / Profimedia
An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 struck the coastal area in southern Philippines on Friday morning, tsunami alerts were issued in several countries, and inhabitants in the nearby coastal areas were asked to take refuge in higher areas, reports Reuters.
The Philippine National Agency Phivolcs warned that replicas of the powerful earthquake that hit the waters from the city of Manay, in the Oriental Davao, in the Mindanao region, can follow.
It revised the magnitude from an initial value of 7.6 to 7.5 and estimated the depth of the earthquake at 20 km.
The American warning system has issued a tsunami warning, saying that dangerous waves are possible for the ribs at a distance of 300 km from the earthquake epicenter.
Rescue teams are prepared
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos JR said that the authorities evaluate the situation on the field and that the search and rescue teams will be sent to the scene when it will be sure to do so.
“We work non-stop to make sure that the help reaches everyone who needs it,” Marcos said in a statement.
Phivolcs urged the population in the coastal cities in the center and south of the Philippines to leave immediately to higher areas or to move further inside the country, saying that waves can be expected with a height above one meter above the normal level of the tide.
The warning center for Tsunami from Pacific said that in the Philippines are possible waves of 1 to 3 meters above the level of the tide.
The earthquake took place no two weeks after the Philippines was hit by the most fatal earthquake in the last decade, which caused the death of 72 people on the island of Cebu. The earthquake had a magnitude of 6.9.
The Philippines is located on the “fire belt” of the Pacific and records over 800 earthquakes each year.
Tsunami warning
A Tsunami warning was issued in Indonesia for the Northern regions Sulawesi and Papua, and PTWC said that some ribs in Indonesia and in the Palau island nation could record waves up to 1 meter.
The governor of the province of Oriental Davao from the Philippines said that people panicked when the earthquake took place.
“It was reported that some buildings were damaged. It was very strong,” said Edwin Jubahib for the Philippine DZMM television station.
The Euro-Mediterranean seismological center estimated the magnitude of the earthquake at 7.4 and the depth at 58 km.
