GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines — A powerful magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the southern Mindanao on Monday morning, leaving at least 32 people dead and over 130 injured as buildings collapsed and landslides buried homes across Mindanao.
The offshore tremor, which occurred shortly before 7:40 a.m. local time, was centered approximately 20 kilometers off the coast of Sarangani Province, sending shockwaves felt as far as Manado, Indonesia. The event has triggered a massive search and rescue mobilization as authorities assess the scale of the destruction.
In General Santos City, which has been placed under a state of calamity on Monday afternoon, at least 13 residents lost their lives due to falling debris and structural failures.
The coastal city bore the brunt of the destruction, with several commercial buildings collapsing and power lines being downed across the area.
Tricycle driver Jojo Calma, 44, described the intensity of the shaking while witnessing a building collapse nearby. “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?” Calma shared in an interview.
Search and rescue operations are currently focused on a collapsed commercial building in General Santos where survivors are believed to be trapped under the rubble. Among those waiting for news is Dioslinda Deluvio, whose son is missing at the site.
“It’s difficult to accept, as a mother, that my son is still trapped there,” she said. “My only call is to have him retrieved today, so we can be at peace”.
Regional civil defense chief Rodrigo Sosmeña noted that frequent aftershocks, including a major magnitude 6.5 tremor, are complicating the “Herculean task” of retrieving survivors as rescuers must remain cautious.
The disaster struck on the first day of the school year, turning a celebratory atmosphere into one of fear for thousands of students. At Mahayahay Elementary School in Barangay Kilalag, Malita, Davao Occidental, over 100 students were gathered for a flag-raising ceremony when the ground began to heave.
Principal Rosavel Cachuela told the Associated Press, “Their excitement on the first day of school turned to trauma”.
Early reports indicate that about 2,000 houses and 117 government buildings have sustained damage, while the General Santos international airport remains closed, forcing the cancellation of 63 domestic flights.
Further fatalities were reported in Sarangani Province, where landslides buried houses in the mountainside town of Glan, as well as in South Cotabato and Davao Occidental.
Tsunami warnings were initially issued for the Philippines, Indonesia, and the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo island, prompting coastal residents to flee to higher ground before being cancelled six hours later.
However, some remote areas of Sarangani remain accessible only by helicopter, slowing the arrival of aid and emergency personnel.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has activated all emergency agencies to assist in the relief efforts, assuring the public that the government is fully engaged. “The national government is moving and we will not leave Mindanao behind,” the President stated.
Local engineers are currently conducting rapid structural integrity inspections of all public buildings and bridges before they can be cleared for use.| Sheenalei Briana Rayos
