A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of the southern Philippine island of Mindanao on Monday, killing at least 19 people. After the strong quake, tsunami warnings were issued for the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan and Australia. According to a BBC report, the powerful tremor was felt at 7:37am local time on Monday.
Several buildings were reported to have collapsed in the force of the quake, including a video showing a restaurant of the famous fast-food chain “Jollibee” reduced entirely to rubble. According to local officials, at least 134 people were injured in South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani provinces and in General Santos city. General Santos, near the epicentre, is known as the Philippines’ “tuna capital” and is the home town of the world-famous boxer and politician Manny Pacquiao.
Power and communications were temporarily cut in coastal Sarangani province after the quake but were later restored. More than 130 aftershocks, ranging from magnitude 1.3 to 6.7, followed the main quake. The disaster struck on the first day of the Philippines’ new school year. In a video shared on social media by a primary school in Davao Occidental province, panicked students are seen sitting on the ground and screaming during the violent shaking at the morning assembly.
Immediately after the quake, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center forecast waves of up to 3 metres for the coasts of the Philippines and Indonesia. Japanese authorities also issued a warning of one-metre waves on their coast.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report