Over 32,000 have been displaced while the death toll climbed to 37 Tuesday, a day after one of the strongest earthquakes in decades struck the southern Philippines.
Rescuers searched ruined buildings in the southern Philippines on Tuesday to ensure no one was still trapped. Only four people were considered missing on official records in the southern provinces near where the 7.8 magnitude quake struck Monday morning, but the Civil Defense office acknowledged several collapsed and heavily damaged buildings must be thoroughly inspected for possible survivors or casualties.
The earthquake centered off Mindanao, the second most populous Philippine island, injured nearly 500 people and displaced more than 32,000, most of whom fled to emergency shelters.
Many people who left their homes feared a tsunami. Waves up to 1.4 meters (4.6 feet) above tide level were measured in the Philippines, but the only tsunami damage reported was to six shanties on stilts in a coastal village. Smaller waves washed ashore in Indonesia and Palau and as far away as southern Japan.
The earthquake left a trail of destruction, including in General Santos, a lively coastal city of more than 700,000 people known as the country’s tuna capital, where at least 13 people were killed in collapsed buildings and due to falling debris.
