Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1780885199266AFP__20260608__B6BJ3T3__v2__HighRes__TopshotPhilippinesEarthquake.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Police gather in front of a collapsed fast food restaurant after an 7.8 magnitude earthquake in General Santos City on June 8, 2026. <em>Edwin Espejo, AFP</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA (<strong>3rd</strong> <strong>UPDATE</strong>) — The death toll from a 7.8-magnitude quake in the southern Philippines on Monday has reached at least 35, with more than 100 people injured, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said.</p><p>OCD spokesperson Junie Castillo said 16 fatalities were reported in Soccsksargen, while three more were reported in the Davao Region.</p><p>The figures remain subject to verification. </p><p>“We are trying to get the information if some of these ay meron ding naiulat na dahil sa landslide,” Castillo told reporters in an interview at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.</p><p>The OCD also recorded 134 injured individuals, mostly from Regions 11 and 12, while twelve people were reported missing in the Davao Region.</p><p>Government agencies have been conducting Rapid Damage and Needs Assessments (RDNA) in affected areas following the powerful quake, with OCD Administrator Undersecretary Harold Cabreros leading the national response team on the ground.</p><p>“Kasama niya yung iba’t ibang mga ahensya ng gobyerno… Lumapag na sa Davao yung eroplano, and they’ll be flown to different areas, specifically… Sarangani and General Santos,” Castillo said.</p><p>The official added that search, rescue and retrieval operations were ongoing, led by the Bureau of Fire Protection, local disaster response offices, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, including the 525th Engineering Brigade, and other government agencies.</p><p>The OCD also reported that around 10,000 families from Sarangani and Sultan Kudarat were preemptively evacuated, largely due to the tsunami alert issued after the earthquake. An additional 700 families were reported to be directly affected by the disaster.</p><p>As of 3 p.m., the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has recorded more than 180 aftershocks, prompting authorities to keep residents away from damaged buildings pending structural integrity assessments.</p><p>“Dahil doon sa mga nangyayaring aftershocks, mahirap pa na bumalik na kagad doon sa mga gusali hangga’t wala pang assessment, structural integrity assessment na nagmumula sa safety officers, sa mga engineering department,” Castillo said.</p><p>“Inaabisuhan po natin ang ating mga kababayan na maging alerto, makinig sa abiso ng mga lokal na awtoridad, maging mapagmatyag,” he continued. “Huwag muna babalik doon sa mga gusali. Hangga’t walang abiso mula sa safety officers, as much as possible sa open areas lang po muna tayo.”</p><p>The Department of Education (DepEd) also reported that about 3.2 million students and 128,000 teachers and personnel were affected by the earthquake, while 6,224 school buildings were initially reported affected.</p><p>Meanwhile, nine areas were reported to be experiencing power outages after electricity lines and posts were damaged by the quake. Castillo said utility providers had shut down power in some areas as a safety precaution.</p><p>Despite the disruptions, the OCD said communication lines with local disaster offices remain intact.</p><p>Videos posted to social media and verified by AFP showed a shopping center with a fast food restaurant reduced to rubble General Santos City, while a school building that officials said was unoccupied crumpled in another.</p><p>&quot;Lord, it has really collapsed! ... The building has really collapsed!&quot; someone can be heard shouting as the school structure toppled.</p><div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=476&amp;href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Freel%2F1681571189730293%2F&amp;show_text=false&amp;width=268&amp;t=0" width="268" height="476" style="border-width:medium;border-style:none;border-color:currentcolor;border-image:initial;overflow:hidden;--darkreader-inline-border-top:0px;--darkreader-inline-border-right:0px;--darkreader-inline-border-bottom:0px;--darkreader-inline-border-left:0px" scrolling="no" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" data-darkreader-inline-border-top="" data-darkreader-inline-border-right="" data-darkreader-inline-border-bottom="" data-darkreader-inline-border-left=""></iframe></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>TSUNAMI ALERT</strong></div><div> </div><p>The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a notice that tsunami waves were possible &quot;within the next three hours&quot; along the coasts of the Philippines, Indonesia, Palau, Taiwan and Papua New Guinea.</p><p>Police Major Roland Catoburan told AFP two people had been crushed to death by a collapsing wall in Alabel, a municipality near General Santos City.</p><p>&quot;We have casualties. A wall fell on them,&quot; he said, adding officers were not being allowed to re-enter their stations, some of which now had cracked walls.</p><p>Master Sergeant Robert Dagon of the General Santos City police separately confirmed another reported death and four injuries.</p><p>&quot;Many buildings were affected, but I cannot enumerate them now because we are busy with ongoing rescues,&quot; Dagon said.</p><div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FabscbnNEWS%2Fposts%2Fpfbid0kKwXbKVsSDVRW2XzCrNxMt1MahvBVTUAWVVCp68Y6YRTKY4DcCZCpNQ2V6cpwGWxl&amp;show_text=true&amp;width=500" width="500" height="727" style="border-width:medium;border-style:none;border-color:currentcolor;border-image:initial;overflow:hidden;--darkreader-inline-border-top:0px;--darkreader-inline-border-right:0px;--darkreader-inline-border-bottom:0px;--darkreader-inline-border-left:0px" scrolling="no" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" data-darkreader-inline-border-top="" data-darkreader-inline-border-right="" data-darkreader-inline-border-bottom="" data-darkreader-inline-border-left=""></iframe></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>EVACUATE NOW</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. suspended classes in affected areas of Mindanao island on what was to have been the first day of school, while calling on residents in coastal areas to evacuate immediately.</p><p>&quot;Move to higher ground now. Do not wait,&quot; he said. &quot;Your life is more important than anything left behind.&quot;</p><p>The airport in General Santos was also closed until further notice, officials said.</p><p>Monday&#x27;s quake triggered evacuation warnings for coastal areas of neighbouring Indonesia and Malaysia, with Jakarta&#x27;s meteorological agency subsequently lifting its alert.</p><p>Japanese authorities issued a tsunami advisory for swathes of its Pacific coast, projecting waves of up to one meter to hit different regions from 11:30 a.m. local time. </p><p>The Department of Education (DepEd) said it has “mobilized our engineers in the affected regions, particularly in DepEd Regional Office XII, to inspect school facilities impacted by the earthquake.” </p><p>“We are also deploying structural engineers from our Central Office to support damage assessments and assist our regional teams on the ground,” Education Secretary Sonny Angara said in a statement.</p><p>Earthquakes are a near-daily occurrence in the Philippines, which is situated on the Pacific &quot;Ring of Fire&quot;, an arc of intense seismic activity stretching from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.</p><p>Eastern Mindanao was rocked by a pair of earthquakes of 7.4 and 6.7 magnitude in October that killed at least eight people.</p><p>These followed a magnitude 6.9 quake days earlier that killed 76 people and destroyed or damaged 72,000 buildings in Cebu province in central Philippines, according to government figures.</p><div><strong>— With reports from Jervis Manahan, Francis Magbanua, Francis Orcio, Bianca Dave, and Rowegie Abanto, ABS-CBN News</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9k04DpJQXbI?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>The death toll from a 7.8-magnitude quake in the southern Philippines on Monday has reached at least 35, with more than 100 people injured, disaster agency officials said.</p>

The death toll from a 7.8-magnitude quake in the southern Philippines on Monday has reached at least 35, with more than 100 people injured, disaster agency officials said.

Death toll in Mindanao quake at least 35: disaster agency

News

Entertainment

Lifestyle

Sports

Metro.Style

More

Sudoku

Word of the Day

Lotto

Horoscope

Regions

Death toll in Mindanao quake at least 35: disaster agency

Agence France-Presse,

ABS-CBN News

Published June 08, 2026 08:20 AM PHT

|

Updated June 09, 2026 10:00 AM PHT

Read More:

Quake

Earthquake

Tsunami

General Santos City

ABS-CBN Newsletter

Your go-to source for the latest news, entertainment highlights, exclusive interviews, and updates on your favorite Kapamilya stars.

ABS-CBN Newsletter

Your go-to source for the latest news, entertainment highlights, exclusive interviews, and updates on your favorite Kapamilya stars.

Sign Up

I have read and agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy.

ABS-CBN is the leading media and entertainment company in the Philippines, offering quality content across TV, radio, digital, and film. Committed to public service and promoting Filipino values, ABS-CBN continues to inspire and connect audiences worldwide.

Corporate

Investors

Governance

International Distribution

Corporate

Governance

Investors

International Distribution

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

AI Policy

Terms of Service

Advertise with Us

© 2026 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2026 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2026 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.