[1/5]People gather after an earthquake in Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur, Philippines, December 2, 2023. Hinatuan LGU/Handout via Portal acquires license rights
Dec 2 (Portal) – An earthquake of at least magnitude 7.5 struck Mindanao in the southern Philippines late on Saturday, triggering evacuation orders for some areas of the country and for Japan’s southwestern coasts due to warnings of tsunami waves of 1 meter (3 feet). out of. or more.
Philippine seismology agency Phivolcs said the waves could reach the Philippines at midnight (1600 GMT) and last for hours, although there were no initial reports of significant wave damage at this time.
The U.S. tsunami warning system said waves of up to 3 meters above normal high tide could occur on some Philippine coasts, but later said there was no threat of a tsunami.
“Based on all available data… the tsunami threat from this earthquake has now passed,” it said.
Phivolcs said people living near the coast of Surigao Del Sur and Davao Oriental provinces should “immediately evacuate” or “move further inland.”
“Boats already at sea during this period should remain offshore in deep waters until further advice,” it said.
The two provinces are largely rural and, unlike other parts of the Philippines, not densely populated.
Japanese broadcaster NHK said tsunami waves up to a meter high were expected to reach Japan’s southwest coast by 1:30 a.m. Sunday (4:30 p.m. GMT Saturday).
Phivolcs said it did not expect significant damage from the quake itself, but warned of aftershocks.
According to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC), the area has already been hit by more than a dozen aftershocks, the largest having a magnitude of 6.4.
Raymark Gentallan, local police chief of the coastal town of Hinatuan near the quake’s epicenter of about 44,000 people, said power had been out since the quake but disaster response teams had not yet detected any casualties or damage.
“We are evacuating people from coastal areas,” he told Portal.
Photos posted on social media by the Hinatuan local government showed dozens of residents and lines of vehicles moving toward higher ground, with a large shelter occupied by several dozen people.
Earthquakes are common in the Philippines because it lies on the “Ring of Fire,” a volcanic belt around the Pacific Ocean that is prone to seismic activity.
The EMSC said the magnitude 7.5 quake occurred at a depth of 63 km (39 miles), while the US Geographic Survey put the quake at magnitude 7.6 and a depth of 32 km (20 miles). said it occurred at a depth of 10 km:37 p.m. (1437 GMT).
Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru and Mikhail Flores in Manila; Additional reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka in Tokyo; writing by Kevin Liffey and Devjyot Ghoshal; Edited by Alison Williams and David Holmes
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