Deadly 7.8 earthquake shakes the Philippines

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake shook the southern Philippines early Monday, collapsing buildings and killing more than 30 people. The deadly quake struck around 7:30 a.m. local time at a depth of 22 miles near the Mindanao region, the Philippines’ southernmost group of islands, according to the United States Geological Survey. Landslides and collapsed buildings killed around 32 people and injured more than 200, the Associated Press reported. More than 2,400 people have received temporary shelter, the Philippine National Police said.

The Philippines, along with Indonesia and Japan, is located in the Ring of Fire, an arc of fault lines that make up the most seismically and volcanically active zone in the world.

Did the earthquake cause any tsunami waves? Three-foot-high waves hit nearby coasts in the Philippines, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. instructed residents to evacuate in case more waves hit. He called them to move to higher ground, as their lives were worth more than anything they left behind.

The quake also triggered tsunami warnings in Indonesia and Japan. However, hours after the earthquake occurred, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the tsunami threat had passed.

Dig deeper: Read Lauren Canterberry’s report on the deadly earthquake that hit the Philippines last October.