Powerful aftershocks continue to rattle parts of Philippines after magnitude 7.6 earthquake kills 3
A pregnant woman was killed in Davao del Norte province after a wall collapsed in her home when she and her family were evacuating to safety in the city of Tagum.
Watch: Customers flee store as earthquake hits Philippines
CCTV caught customers fleeing a store in a Davao City mall as the 7.6 earthquake struck. What started as minor rumbling evolved into major shaking, knocking items to the floor. A second video shows customers leaving another part of the store calmly until the major shaking started. Shoppers press themselves against the windows to stay upright and others struggle with balance in the hallway.
DAVAO CITY, Philippines – A powerful 7.6 magnitude earthquake has claimed the lives of at least three people in the southern Philippines as aftershocks are forcing residents to remain sheltered.
According to Reuters, disaster officials have reported at least three deaths since the initial quake on Saturday. Among the deaths was a pregnant woman killed when a wall collapsed as she and her family attempted to flee her home in Tagum.
Local officials said nearly 48,000 people have been affected by the earthquake and the subsequent aftershocks, mostly in Hinatuan.
The deadly quake struck at 10:37 p.m. local time Saturday night (9:37 a.m. EST), according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), near the province of Surigao del Sur in Mindanao, the second-largest island of the Philippines. The quake occurred at a depth of just over 20 miles.
Disaster officials reported only minor damage to some infrastructure in the region.
Hinatuan Mayor Shem Garay told local radio station DZBB that the aftershocks have reached magnitudes 6.8 and 6.5. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology has recorded more than a thousand seismic events since Saturday.
Map showing the epicenter of the earthquake. Note the location of Palau in the lower right corner.
(U.S. Geological Survey / FOX Weather)
A Tsunami Warning was issued for the Philippines by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS). PHIVOLCS advised people living in the provinces of Surigao Del Sur and Davao Oriental to immediately evacuate to higher ground or move farther inland.
THESE ARE THE MOST POWERFUL EARTHQUAKES ON RECORD
Residents file out of high rise apartment buildings in Davaou City when the towers started shaking and alarms went off.
(Bejie Atan / FOX Weather)
As of early Sunday morning local time, the tsunami threat had passed, according to both PHIVOLCS and NOAA's Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC).
![Earthquake-affected residents evacuate from Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur province on December 3, 2023]()
Image 1 of 7Earthquake-affected residents evacuate from Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur province on December 3, 2023, following a 7.6 magnitude quake late on December 2. A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hit the southern Philippines on December 3, the US Geological Survey said, a day after an even more powerful quake struck in the same region and triggered a tsunami alert that was later lifted. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images) ( )
![Residents in the municipality of Hinatuan in the province of Surigao del Sur in the Philippines seek shelter after the earthquake hit.]()
Image 2 of 7Residents in the municipality of Hinatuan in the province of Surigao del Sur in the Philippines seek shelter after the earthquake hit. (Local Government Unit of Hinatuan)
![Residents in the municipality of Hinatuan in the province of Surigao del Sur in the Philippines after the earthquake hit.]()
Image 3 of 7Residents in the municipality of Hinatuan in the province of Surigao del Sur in the Philippines after the earthquake hit. (Local Government Unit of Hinatuan)
![Residents in the municipality of Hinatuan in the province of Surigao del Sur in the Philippines after the earthquake hit.]()
Image 4 of 7Residents in the municipality of Hinatuan in the province of Surigao del Sur in the Philippines after the earthquake hit. (Local Government Unit of Hinatuan)
![Residents in the municipality of Hinatuan in the province of Surigao del Sur in the Philippines after the earthquake hit.]()
Image 5 of 7Residents in the municipality of Hinatuan in the province of Surigao del Sur in the Philippines after the earthquake hit. (Local Government Unit of Hinatuan)
![Residents in the municipality of Hinatuan in the province of Surigao del Sur in the Philippines after the earthquake hit.]()
Image 6 of 7Residents in the municipality of Hinatuan in the province of Surigao del Sur in the Philippines after the earthquake hit. (Local Government Unit of Hinatuan)
![Residents fetch water next to a destroyed house in Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur province on December 3, 2023, following a 7.6 magnitude earthquake late on December 2.]()
Image 7 of 7Residents fetch water next to a destroyed house in Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur province on December 3, 2023, following a 7.6 magnitude earthquake late on December 2. A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hit the southern Philippines on December 3, the US Geological Survey said, a day after an even more powerful quake struck in the same region and triggered a tsunami alert that was later lifted. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images) ( )
The tsunami threat originally extended beyond Mindanao. The PTWC said hazardous tsunami waves caused by the earthquake were possible within about 620 miles of the epicenter.
Those within this threatened region included the central and northern Philippines, along with Indonesia and Malaysia to the Philippines’ south. Palau, located east of the Philippines, was also under the tsunami threat.
Officials feared wave heights could reach 3-9 feet along parts of the Philippines and 1-3 feet in Pulau.
(FOX Weather)
The Philippines is a seismologically active country. Located along the Ring of Fire, the Philippines is caught between two major fault lines and thus experiences high levels of seismic and volcanic activity, according to the U.S. Agency for International Development.