Get the latest news and updates from Dawn
At least 15 people were feared dead in the southern Philippines on Monday after a powerful magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the island of Mindanao, triggering tsunami warnings across several countries.
The quake came early in the morning as schools were reopening in the Philippines after a long break, with the tremors felt strongly in a dozen provinces and 420 km (261 miles) away in the city of Manado on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.
Tsunami alerts were issued in the southern Philippines, northern Indonesia and the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo island after the quake with an epicentre located about 20 km off Mindanao’s Sarangani province.
Philippine authorities were assessing the damage from the quake, with the office of civil defence seeking to verify initial reports that 15 people had been killed and 129 injured in the region, mostly from falling debris.
