Powerful quake strikes Philippines, triggering tsunami alerts across Asia

Published 8 June 2026 · india

Officials in Indonesia, Philippines and Japan warn of possible tsunami waves after quake off Mindanao. Click here to share on social media A powerful earthquake

Officials in Indonesia, Philippines and Japan warn of possible tsunami waves after quake off Mindanao. Click here to share on social media A powerful earthquake has struck the Philippines, destroying buildings and triggering tsunami alerts across Asia. The magnitude 7.8 quake struck off the island of Mindanao shortly before 7:40am local time (23:40 GMT Sunday), according to the United States Geological Survey. Video posted on official social media channels showed a three-storey building that housed a Jollibees restaurant collapsing in a cloud of debris and dust in Mindanao’s General Santos City, startling onlookers.

Other images showed extensive damage to buildings, including smashed windows and caved-in roofs. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos said on Monday morning that emergency agencies had been activated, including the Office of Civil Defence and the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. Marcos urged people to follow government advisories about the risk of hazardous tsunami waves. “To our kababayans [countrymen] in the affected provinces, please heed the tsunami warning. Move to higher ground now. Do not wait. Your life is more important than anything left behind,” Marcos said. Marcos said schools across several provinces of Mindanao had also been closed for the day.

The US-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said earlier that tsunami waves as high as 3 metres (9.8 feet) could hit coastal areas of the Philippines, and waves of up to 1 metre (3.3ft) were possible in parts of Indonesia and Malaysia. The US Tsunami Warning Center, which downgraded the quake from an earlier estimate of magnitude 8.2, said the quake posed no threat to coastal areas of the US. Officials in Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan have issued alerts warning of possible hazardous waves and advising citizens in coastal areas to get to safety.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) said people in coastal areas of nine provinces – including Sarangani, Davao Occidental, Tawi-tawi and Sulu – should immediately evacuate to higher ground or further inland. “Owners of boats in harbors, estuaries or shallow coastal water of the above-mentioned provinces should secure their boats and move away from the waterfront,” PHIVOLCS said. “Boats already at sea during this period should stay offshore in deep waters until further advised.” More to follow…