Powerful earthquake in southern Philippines leaves at least 37 dead

0:55 Powerful earthquake strikes southern Philippines – video Powerful earthquake in southern Philippines leaves at least 37 dead People told not to enter damaged buildings for fear of aftershocks from magnitude-7.8 quake At least 37 people have died and hundreds have been injured after a magnitude-7.8 earthquake shook part of the southern Philippines early on Monday, collapsing buildings and triggering tsunami alerts. The quake hit early in the morning about 20km (12.4 miles) off the coast of Sarangani province, with tremors felt strongly across Mindanao and 420km away in the city of Manado on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Authorities were verifying preliminary reports of 37 people killed, 479 injured and four missing across Mindanao, mostly from falling debris and landslides, according to civil defence officials. They told people not to enter damaged homes and other infrastructure because of the threat of aftershocks. In their report, authorities said around 88,000 people had been affected, including 20,690 displaced. Video verified by the Guardian shows the collapse of the upper floor of a Jollibee restaurant, a popular fast food chain, as well as the outer concrete walls of a commercial complex giving way in General Santos City, near the epicentre of the quake. A map showing severity of earthquake by geography In Davao del Sur, part of a high school collapsed as students gathered outside, a video shared by the local radio network Bombo Radyo showed. Images of a convenience store in General Santos City showed its entrance destroyed, with smashed glass and overturned benches strewn across the street outside. Philippines earthquake: buildings destroyed after 7.8 magnitude quake – video Power outages were reported and people were urged to go to higher ground. Multiple hospitals have also been damaged, according to the chairman and CEO of the Philippines Red Cross, Richard Gordon. Those injured in the earthquake had to seek medical treatment in makeshift environments like tents, Gordon told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Monday evening “because people are afraid that the hospital might collapse under them”. The quake’s epicentre was 8 miles (13km) south-west of General Santos City, and its focus was 6.2 miles underground, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology in its initial report. It struck at 7.37am local time. The US Geological Survey said the magnitude was 7.8 with a depth of 34 miles. View image in fullscreen Emergency workers examine a damaged building in Mindanao. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images 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 president of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, said evacuation centres were ready and operational as government agencies continued to assess the damage an