ASEAN Beat | Society | Southeast Asia

At Least 32 Dead After Earthquake Hits Southern Philippines, Authorities Say

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has stated that “the national government is moving and we will not leave Mindanao behind.”

A collapsed building in the center of General Santos, on the Philippine island of Mindanao, Jun. 8, 2026.

The death toll in yesterday’s powerful earthquake in the southern Philippines has risen to at least 32, the Philippine authorities said, as they intensified relief operations in the affected area.

The magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck early yesterday morning about 20 kilometers off the coast of Sarangani province in Mindanao, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), triggering tsunami warnings in several countries.

The tremors were felt strongly across Mindanao and as far away as Manado on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, some 420 kilometers from the epicenter of the quake.

Among the worst hit areas was General Santos, a city of around 700,000 near Sarangani, where the earthquake damaged shops and buildings. Videos posted to social media show significant tremors during the earthquake, while photographs released by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) show at least one large building reduced to rubble.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines initially suspended operations at General Santos airport pending an assessment of its facilities, Rappler reported, but later approved its reopening in order to facilitate government, military, and humanitarian flights.

The Philippine government mobilized military and disaster response teams from the NDRRMC and DSWD, and the Office of Civil Defense said that it was verifying preliminary reports of 32 possible deaths,........

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