Tsunami alert and at least 19 dead after 7.8-magnitude quake hits the Philippines

At least 19 people have died after a magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck the island of Mindanao in the Philippines.

More than 200 others have been injured, officials said.

The earthquake sparked tsunami warnings in Indonesia and the Philippines, with people told to move inland or seek higher ground.

Mindanao is among the country's southernmost islands, and the quake occurred off its southern tip, about 13km (eight miles) southwest of General Santos, a city of more than 700,000 people, where at least seven people were killed and 130 others injured.

A video filmed in General Santos showed a small building collapse and authorities there said they were assessing reports of damage and injuries.

They are also checking reports of some students being trapped in a collapsed school.

The other deaths were caused by falling debris, a damaged mosque and a landslide in the southern provinces of Sarangani, South Cotabato and Davao Occidental and on Balut Island.

The biggest tsunami seen in the Philippines on Monday was 1.4 metres, according to Phivolcs, the national seismology agency. There have been no reports of damage or casualties from the tsunami.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the threat had largely passed about five hours after the quake.

President 'Bongbong' Marcos had urged people in the Philippines to immediately heed all warnings.

Phivolcs and the US Geological Survey (USGS) both measured the quake at magnitude 7.8 - the strongest to hit the Philippines this year.

It occurred at a depth of 20 miles (33km) at 7.37am local time and was followed by a series of aftershocks.

"It's a major earthquake and we're expecting damages and we've already some damaged buildings based on videos we've seen," said Phivolcs director Teresito Bacolcol.

Meanwhile, a police chief in Mindanao's Sarangani province told Reuters it was the "strongest earthquake we've experienced".

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People in Indonesia's North Sulawesi and North Maluku provinces also felt the earthquake but the country's disaster agency said there were no reports of damage so far.

Indonesia and the Philippines lie in the Pacific "ring of fire" - a string of underwater volcanoes and sites of increased seismic activity that stretches about 25,000 miles.

Both nations experience hundreds of earthquakes every year.

(c) Sky News 2026: Tsunami alert and at least 19 dead after 7.8-magnitude quake hits the Philippines