A Huge 7.8 Earthquake Has Hit The Philippines, Killing At Least 19 People And Causing Panic
General Santos experienced "destructive intensity" shaking, meaning the earthquake was strong enough to cause significant structural damage.
A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit the Philippines, killing at least 19 people and injuring more than 200 people.
The earthquake struck off the coast of Mindanao, the second-most populous island in the Philippines, on the first day of school on Monday, June 8, at around 7:37am local time after a two-month break in several of the affected areas, triggering tsunami warnings, toppling buildings and sending children running for safety.
The hardest-hit city was General Santos, a city of around 700,000 people known as the Philippines' tuna capital, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes.
Videos shared online showed students screaming and fleeing as structures collapsed nearby.
Other videos from General Santos showed buildings crumbling and emergency services rushing through the streets.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) said General Santos experienced "destructive intensity" shaking, meaning the earthquake was strong enough to cause significant structural damage.
Videos shared on social media showed buildings collapsing across the city, and in one viral video, an entire building of the Filipino fast food chain Jollibee collapses to the ground.
In another video from the disaster, elementary school students can be heard screaming and crying as the ground shakes beneath them.
The Philippines sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a seismically active zone where earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are common.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered school closures across affected areas of Mindanao as emergency responders continued search and rescue operations.
"We don't have a complete picture of the damage, but there are plenty of structures that are cracked," senior official at the Philippine Office of Civil Defense in General Santos told the New York Times.
More than 130 aftershocks have been recorded since the earthquake struck, according to local officials.
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