Magnitude 7.8 quake hits Philippines, dead and tsunami

A powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck the southern Philippines on Monday morning local time, collapsing buildings in the city of General Santos on Mindanao and sending tsunami waves along the southern coast. Seen from Belgrade, where disasters on the far side of the world are read through the lens of the Balkans’ own seismic exposure, the morning is a reminder of how quickly a single instant can upend whole communities, and how much disciplined emergency response matters.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, known as PHIVOLCS, first reported a magnitude of 7.0 and then revised the figure upward to 7.8. The epicentre was located offshore, roughly 13 kilometres southwest of General Santos, at a depth of about 55 kilometres. The quake hit at 7:37 a.m. local time, just as schools were opening their doors on the first day of the academic year and the streets were full of people.

According to early figures from authorities, at least eight people were confirmed dead and more than 100 injured, with several reported missing. Officials stress that the count is still being verified and may change as rescue teams reach the worst affected areas. A three-storey building collapsed in General Santos, parts of the local university and nearby schools were damaged, and more than 138 aftershocks were recorded across the region.

How did authorities respond, and what comes next?

Philippine authorities activated the tsunami warning system almost immediately after the first shock. Waves of up to 1.5 metres were measured in Davao City, and a warning was issued for waves of up to three metres along part of the coast. Residents of low-lying coastal areas were told to move to higher ground at once, which in practice meant evacuating entire neighbourhoods while aftershocks were still rolling through.

President Ferdinand Marcos addressed the public with the appeal that mattered most in those first hours.

Please heed the tsunami warning, go to higher ground immediately.

Classes were suspended on the first day of school, affecting more than three million pupils, and part of the administration shifted to emergency operations. Rescue teams were directed to the collapsed building in General Santos and the damaged university facilities, where crews are checking for anyone trapped under the rubble. Airports and hospitals across the region were placed on standby.

Why are the Philippines so exposed to earthquakes?

The Philippines sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a belt along the edges of tectonic plates where most of the world’s earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur. The collision and subduction of plates in this part of the Pacific mean that strong quakes and the tsunamis that follow are part of the everyday risk this nation of more than a hundred million people has lived with for generations.

That exposure is precisely why the country maintains a developed early-warning system and evacuation protocols, with institutions such as PHIVOLCS playing a decisive role in the first minutes after a shock. The revision of the magnitude from 7.0 to 7.8 shows how delicate the early estimate of a quake’s strength can be, because even a small difference in the figure translates into a large difference in the energy released and the damage estimated on the ground.

The true scale of the loss will become clearer only once rescue teams reach the most vulnerable parts of southern Mindanao. How do you think countries exposed to seismic risk, including those in the Balkans, could better prepare their populations for sudden morning shocks like this one?