On the night of Saturday, an earthquake with a magnitude of at least 7.5 hit Mindanao in the southern Philippines. This event prompted evacuation orders in some areas and southwestern Japanese coasts due to the possibility of tsunami waves of 3 feet or more.
The Philippine Seismology Agency Phivolcs indicated that the waves could reach the Philippines around midnight and last for several hours.
The U.S. Tsunami Warning System warned of the possibility of waves up to 3 meters above the tide level along some Philippine coasts.
Phivolcs urged boats at sea during this period to remain offshore in deep waters until further notice. It also issued evacuation alerts for the coast of Surigao Del Sur and Davao Oriental provinces.
NHK reported expected tsunami waves of about one meter to reach Japan’s southwestern coast half an hour later, by 1:30 a.m. on Sunday (1630 GMT on Saturday).
While significant damage from the earthquake itself was not anticipated by Phivolcs, they warned of potential aftershocks.
Raymark Gentallan, the local police chief of Hinatuan, stated that power was lost after the quake, but no casualties or damage have been reported.
The Philippines, located in the “Ring of Fire”, experiences frequent earthquakes due to its position on a volcano-riddled rim around the Pacific Ocean.
The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) reported a 7.5 magnitude earthquake at a depth of 63 km (39 miles).
The U.S. Geological Survey recorded a 7.6 magnitude quake at a depth of 32 km (20 miles), occurring at 10:37 p.m. Philippines time (1437 GMT).
Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru and Mikhail Flores in Manila; Additional reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka in Tokyo; Writing by Kevin Liffey; Editing by Diane Craft and Alison Williams
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