Earthquake of magnitude 7.8 strikes off southern Philippines

Tsunami warnings were issued after an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck off Mindanao in the southern Philippines on Monday, the German Research Centre for Geosciences confirmed.



The quake struck at a depth of 10 km.



The geophysics agencies of the Philippines and neighbouring Indonesia issued tsunami warnings.



There were no immediate reports of major damage in either country.



GFZ had earlier pegged the earthquake at 8.2.



The U.S. Tsunami Warning System issued a tsunami threat to the earthquake.



Phivolcs, the Philippine agency, said the quake was magnitude 7.0 and warned of damage and tsunami waves above one metre, which could continue for several hours. Indonesia's BMKG put the quake at a 7.7 magnitude.



Police chief of a town in Sarangani Province in the Philippines, said the police building had some cracks immediately after the quake, which occurred during their flag-raising ceremony.