POLOMOLOK — A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck near Sarangani province in the southern Philippines around 7:30 a.m. local time on Monday, killing at least 37 people and injuring more than 400. In response, officials declared a state of calamity in General Santos City due to building collapses and damage to power infrastructure.
The earthquake's epicenter was located approximately 12 miles off the coast of Sarangani province. Tsunami warnings were issued across several countries following the earthquake. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology recorded dozens of aftershocks, including one measuring magnitude 6.7.
Search crews recovered one body and pulled two survivors from a collapsed commercial building on Tuesday. Four people remain missing as search operations continue. Schools across the region remained closed on Tuesday for safety inspections.
Shane Ayangco, who immigrated to the United States from the Philippines in 2004, was staying at a family home in Polomolok with his wife and three children when the earthquake occurred. "All of a sudden it started shaking. The earthquakes were just more like a side-by-side kind of swaying, but this was the first time that it was this intense to the point that you're bouncing up the bed," Ayangco said.
"Unfortunately, we almost forgot my middle child, my 3-year-old, because she was covered with a blanket, and I had to grab her and then we went outside," he said.