• 134 injured as tremors flatten homes, shops in Mindanao; landslide buries village
• Rescue operations underway amid utility outages, 200+ aftershocks
GENERAL SANTOS: At least 35 people were killed and 134 injured after a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the Philippine island of Mindanao, toppling buildings and triggering temporary tsunami warnings.
The offshore quake hit early in the morning, about 20 kilometres south of Sarangani province, striking just as schools were returning from a long break.
National disaster authorities reported that at least a dozen people remained missing as military and disaster response teams were mobilised to search through the rubble.
In the hard-hit municipality of Glan in Sarangani, a landslide buried homes at the foot of a mountain. Rene Punzalan, the provincial disaster chief, said 14 people died there alone.
“The landslide happened immediately after the earthquake, so many lives were lost,” Punzalan said, adding that power outages complicated rescue efforts. “The greatest challenge is communication. The power was cut, so it’s hard to get updates.”
In nearby General Santos, a city of about 700,000 people, the local command centre tallied 12 deaths. Rescue workers used their bare hands as night fell to dig through the rubble of a collapsed grocery store, desperately trying to reach two trapped employees.
Morphy Angcad, a 35-year-old security guard, refused to leave the site where his sister was buried.
Dioslinda Deluvio, the mother of the other trapped employee, recalled her son visiting her weeks earlier. “All I can do is cry now, imagining the good things he did in the world,” she said.
Tremors were felt 420 kilometres away in Manado, Indonesia. Jojo Calma, a 44-year-old tricycle taxi driver in General Santos, watched a fast-food outlet collapse into a cloud of dust.
The Philippine seismology agency recorded more than 200 aftershocks, with the strongest measuring a magnitude 6.7, preventing authorities from conducting structural assessments. Fearing further collapses, many residents prepared to spend the night outdoors. Infrastructure damage left many without basic utilities.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. suspended classes across Mindanao and ordered an immediate disaster response. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre initially issued notices for the coasts of the Philippines, Indonesia, Palau, Taiwan, and Papua New Guinea.
Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2026