In the Philippines, the death toll has climbed to 37 after the 7.8-magnitude offshore earthquake that hit the southern part yesterday. More than 500 people got injured, while four people were missing. The earthquake centered off Mindanao, the second most populous Philippine island, displaced more than 20 thousand people, most of whom fled to emergency shelters.

 

Many people who left their homes feared a tsunami. Waves up to 1.4 meters 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.

 

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Junior has said that agencies were co-ordinating the disaster response. Marcos also ordered the suspension of classes in affected areas after the quake, which coincided with the first day of the school year in the Philippines.