At least 15 people were feared dead Monday when a powerful magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, prompting tsunami warnings in 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 kilometers (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 epicenter located about 20 kilometers off Mindanao's Sarangani province.
Philippine authorities were assessing the damage from the quake, with the office of civil defense seeking to verify initial reports that 15 people had been killed and 129 injured in the region, mostly from falling debris.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered an immediate disaster response in Mindanao, an island the size of South Korea, with agencies directed to prepare relief supplies and evacuation centres and be ready for possible rescue operations.
