TWO powerful earthquakes have hit the Philippines, killing a pregnant woman and sparking mass panic as Japan issued a tsunami warning.
The first 7.6 magnitude tremor struck the island of Mindanao on Saturday at a depth of 20 miles at about 10.37 pm local time, followed by 6.6 magnitude quake in the same 24 hours.
Defence secretary Gilbert Teodoro said 529 families have been affected by the tremor in Surigao del Sur, north of the island.
He said one person died, four others are injured, and nine people have been reported missing, reports.
A pregnant woman died when she was hit by a 15ft concrete wall that collapsed as the ground shook and prompted her to flee her home in Tagum city, said disaster-mitigation chief, Shieldon Isidoro.
He added that her husband and daughter were injured, but have apparently survived.
The first quake took place about 13 miles northeast of Hinatuan and could reportedly be felt as far away as Davao City, some 121 miles away.
Many were asleep when the tremor struck, later describing the panic as they were woken up terrified.
“I felt like the room we’re staying in would be destroyed,” 24-year-old resort guest Bethanie Valledor told AFP.
She fled the hotel she had been stayiong about 20 kilometres southwest of Hinatuan.
“Our place is very near the sea. The resort owner asked us to evacuate immediately. Honestly, I was screaming. I panicked.”
Several hours later, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology measured the quake at 7.4, and recorded at least 600 aftershocks with magnitudes raging from 1.4 to 6.2.
The latest quake hit on Sunday at about 6:36 pm local time (1036 GMT) northeast of Bislig on Mindanao island.
A video posted on social media and verified by AFP showed bottles of drinks and other products falling off shelves in a convenience store as staff fled outside.
Another clip showed people screaming as they ran along a street in Lianga, a coastal municipality of Surigao del Sur.
“I was shaking in fear, mainly because of exploding electric poles,” a 26-year-old hairdresser told AFP.
“It was very traumatic.”
The first quake triggered tsunami warnings and evacuation orders for coastal residents that were later lifted, the reports.
Hundreds of patients evacuated a hospital in Tagum but then escorted back after inspection revealed no severe structural damage, officials said.
Thousands of families also stayed outside their homes for hours in many towns due to the earthquake and tsunami scare, including in some that were drenched by an overnight downpour, officials said.
“Destructive tsunami is expected with life threatening wave heights,” the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said on X, formerly Twitter.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said on Saturday based on the magnitude and location it expected tsunami waves to hit the southern Philippines and parts of Indonesia, Palau and Malaysia.
The Philippines seismology institute maintained its tsunami warning into early Sunday as waves of more than one metre above the normal tides were expected to hit the coast.
People in Surigao del Sur and Davao Oriental provinces were advised to immediately evacuate to higher ground or further inland.
It comes as Japan, northeast of Philippines, saw tsunami waves of up to 1.3ft on some outlying islands.
The two island nations are part of the Pacific "Ring of Fire" - a zone of major seismic activity which has one of the world's most active fault lines.
The Mindanao quakes come nearly two weeks after a 6.7 magnitude quake hit the island, killing at least nine people, shaking buildings and causing part of a shopping mall ceiling to collapse.
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