Manila : A powerful magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck offshore in the southern Philippines on Friday, killing at least two people, while towns near the epicentre suffered structural damage and authorities warned of strong aftershocks.
The quake, in waters off the town of Manay in the province of Davao Oriental, triggered a tsunami alert for coasts within 300 km (186 miles) of the epicentre, but the warnings for the Philippines and Indonesia were subsequently lifted.
A strong aftershock of magnitude 6.9 struck at around 7 p.m. (1100 GMT) triggering a new tsunami warning, with the country’s seismology agency Phivolcs warning of possible tsunami waves in the next two hours that could be more than one metre (3.2 feet) higher than normal tides.
People living near coastal areas in the southern Philippines were “strongly advised to immediately evacuate” to higher ground, or move further inland, it said in an advisory.
There were initial reports of damage to homes, buildings and bridges, one official in Manay said, although the full extent of the damage in the Philippines was not immediately clear.
At least two people were killed, civil defence official Karlo Puerto said by telephone, both in Mati City close to where the quake struck. There were no other reports of casualties from regional disaster offices contacted by Reuters.
The quake was among the strongest in recent years to hit the Philippines, which sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and experiences more than 800 quakes each year.
It came two weeks after the Philippines experienced its deadliest earthquake in more than a decade with 74 people killed on the central island of Cebu following an offshore quake of magnitude 6.9.
