35 dead after powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake strikes Philippines

An offshore earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 has struck the southern Philippines, killing at least 35 people and injuring more than 200.

The quake struck on Monday and is the strongest to hit the country this year, according to Teresito Bacolcol, director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.

The epicentre was located offshore near Mindanao, the second most populous island in the Philippine archipelago.

Bacolcol told Al Jazeera that the quake struck at a depth of 33 kilometres, about 32 kilometres southwest of Maasim town in Sarangani province.

Several low-rise buildings collapsed or sustained heavy damage in the hard-hit city of General Santos.

Most of the deaths were caused by collapsing buildings and falling debris, including in a damaged mosque, across the southern provinces of South Cotabato and Davao Occidental and on Balut Island, according to disaster-mitigation official Ednar Dayanghirang.

The quake also triggered a landslide in Glan, a municipality in the province of Sarangani, that killed 13 villagers, provincial disaster-mitigation official Rene Punzalan told the DZBB radio network. Four other villagers died elsewhere.

Six slums on stilts were also damaged in a coastal village in Zamboanga del Sur province due to the quake and higher waves.

According to the BBC, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said the threat of a tsunami had largely passed about five hours after the quake. Philippine officials also lifted a local tsunami warning by mid-afternoon.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the cancellation of classes and directed disaster-response agencies to immediately get to work in quake-hit provinces.

"The national government is moving, and we will not leave Mindanao behind," he said.

The United States, an ally of the Philippines, said it was coordinating with Manila and stood ready to support the Philippine response efforts.

France, Japan and New Zealand also expressed support.

The Philippines frequently experiences earthquakes and volcanic eruptions because it lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of seismic faults encircling the ocean.