A 7.4-magnitude earthquake has struck off the southeastern coast of the Philippines, according to the US Geological Survey, with local authorities warning dangerous tsunami waves could be generated.
The quake struck off the eastern side of Mindanao island, some 123 kilometers (79 miles) from the island’s capital Davao, at a depth of 58.1 kilometers (36 miles), according to USGS. There were no immediate reports of damage.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said a “destructive tsunami is expected with life threatening wave heights” and warned people in coastal areas of east and southern Philippines to evacuate. Phivolcs put the quake’s magnitude at 7.6.
The US Tsunami Warning system warned 1-3 meter wave heights could be possible for parts of the Philippines, while some coasts of Indonesia as well as the island nation of Palau could see waves of 30cm to 1 meter.
The Philippines sits along the Ring of Fire, a 25,000-mile (40,000-kilometer) arc of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean that hosts more than half of the world’s volcanoes and regularly experiences powerful quakes.
Source: CNN
--Agencies
