32 feared dead in powerful Philippine earthquake

The death toll in a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake off the southern Philippine island of Mindanao on Monday has risen to at least 32, with dozens of people injured, disaster officials said, as Manila stepped up search and rescue operations.

The quake, which triggered tsunami warnings across several countries, hit early in the morning about 20 km (12.4 miles) off the coast of Sarangani province, with tremors felt strongly across Mindanao and 420 km away in the city of Manado on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.

Residents in the worst-affected location, General Santos City, home to about 700,000 people, recalled the fear they felt as tremors shook the area, saying they were unlike anything they had experienced in the past.

"It was the first time I experienced something that strong, that I really couldn't stop myself from tearing up. I thought about my children and my niece, what if something had happened to them?" said Jojo Calma, 44, who was driving his motorised tricycle taxi in front of a building when it collapsed.

The collapse of that building housing a fast-food outlet was captured in a video released by the local government, showing panicked onlookers fleeing as a cloud of dust spread quickly through the air.

Calma said his children were in school when the earthquake struck, but are safe, although his sibling's home was destroyed. "Thank God they're okay," he said.

The quake struck just as schools were returning from a long break.

The Philippines mobilised military and disaster response teams and authorities were verifying preliminary reports of 32 people killed and 134 injured across Mindanao, mostly from falling debris and landslides, according to civil defence officials.

Tsunami warnings were cancelled after more than six hours in the southern Philippines, northern Indonesia and the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo island, where residents in coastal areas had been told to evacuate immediately to higher ground.

The disaster came eight months after the Philippines suffered its deadliest tremor in 12 years, when a shallow 6.9 magnitude quake hit off the central island of Cebu, killing 79 people. Two powerful quakes struck Mindanao two weeks later, the strongest at a magnitude 7.4.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr ordered an immediate disaster response in Mindanao, with agencies directed to prepare relief supplies and evacuation centres and be ready for possible rescue operations.

"The national government is moving and we will not leave Mindanao behind," Marcos said in a statement.