Tsunami alerts issued across Asia after 7.7-magnitude Philippines quake

A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck off the southern Philippine island of Mindanao early on Monday, June 8, prompting tsunami warnings and evacuation orders across parts of Asia as authorities assessed the extent of the damage and potential loss of life.

According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), the undersea quake was followed by more than an hour of aftershocks. The full scale of casualties and destruction remained unclear, although reports indicated significant damage to infrastructure in affected areas.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos said emergency response agencies, including the Office of Civil Defence and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, had been mobilised following the earthquake.

Authorities ordered residents in nine provinces, including Sarangani, Davao Occidental, Tawi-Tawi and Sulu, to move to higher ground or further inland amid fears of tsunami waves.

Neighbouring Indonesia also issued evacuation orders for vulnerable coastal areas in northern Sulawesi, northern Gorontalo province and the Sangihe Islands, urging residents to seek safer locations.

Tsunami alerts were issued in the Philippines, Indonesia and Japan, with officials warning of potentially hazardous waves and advising coastal communities to remain away from shorelines.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said tsunami waves of up to three metres could affect parts of the Philippines, while waves reaching one metre were possible along sections of the Indonesian and Malaysian coastlines.

Japan's Meteorological Agency said waves were expected to reach the Philippines and parts of Indonesia around 10 am local time, followed by southern Japan and Taiwan about an hour later. Areas including Micronesia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands were also placed on alert.

A tsunami warning remains in effect for Japan's southern coast and outlying islands, including Okinawa.

Meanwhile, the US National Tsunami Warning Center downgraded the earthquake from an earlier estimated magnitude of 8.2 and said it posed no tsunami threat to US coastal areas. Authorities in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands later cancelled tsunami warnings but cautioned that strong currents and dangerous sea conditions could persist.