A 7.6-magnitude undersea earthquake struck off the eastern coast of
the Philippines late today, killing at least one person in a house
collapse, and a second temblor struck about half an hour later,
according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Power was knocked out in several cities.
A tsunami alert originally was issued for several countries including the Philippines, Indonesia, Palau, Japan and for Pacific islands as far away as the Northern Marianas, but was eventually lifted, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
Media reported that roads and bridges were destroyed and people were fleeing to higher ground.
"My neighbours and I have evacuated. We are now on our way to the mountains," fisherman Marlon Lagramado told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from the coastal town of Guiwan in the Philippine province of Eastern Samar, which was closest to the epicenter.
The first quake, originally pegged at a magnitude 7.9, hit at a depth of 34.9 kilometres and was centred 106 kilometres east of Samar Island, the USGS said.
The second earthquake, with a magnitude of 5.5, struck 102 kilometres northeast of San Isidro.
The head of the Philippine seismology agency, Renato Solidum, said residents living along the coastline of eastern Samar Island had been advised to evacuate to high ground until the tsunami has passed.
"Don't sleep, especially those in the eastern seaboard ... because there might be aftershocks," Benito Ramos, a retired general who heads the disaster-response agency, said in an advisory broadcast nationwide.
Mayor Vicente Emano reported one house collapsed in southern Cagayan de Oro city, on the main southern island of Mindanao, killing a 54-year-old woman and injuring her 5-year-old grandson, who was being treated in a hospital.
There was no electricity in several other towns and cities across the central and southern Philippines, though it was restored in some areas later Friday, according to rescuers and local radio reports.
Power was knocked out in several cities.
A tsunami alert originally was issued for several countries including the Philippines, Indonesia, Palau, Japan and for Pacific islands as far away as the Northern Marianas, but was eventually lifted, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
Media reported that roads and bridges were destroyed and people were fleeing to higher ground.
"My neighbours and I have evacuated. We are now on our way to the mountains," fisherman Marlon Lagramado told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from the coastal town of Guiwan in the Philippine province of Eastern Samar, which was closest to the epicenter.
The first quake, originally pegged at a magnitude 7.9, hit at a depth of 34.9 kilometres and was centred 106 kilometres east of Samar Island, the USGS said.
The second earthquake, with a magnitude of 5.5, struck 102 kilometres northeast of San Isidro.
The head of the Philippine seismology agency, Renato Solidum, said residents living along the coastline of eastern Samar Island had been advised to evacuate to high ground until the tsunami has passed.
"Don't sleep, especially those in the eastern seaboard ... because there might be aftershocks," Benito Ramos, a retired general who heads the disaster-response agency, said in an advisory broadcast nationwide.
Mayor Vicente Emano reported one house collapsed in southern Cagayan de Oro city, on the main southern island of Mindanao, killing a 54-year-old woman and injuring her 5-year-old grandson, who was being treated in a hospital.
There was no electricity in several other towns and cities across the central and southern Philippines, though it was restored in some areas later Friday, according to rescuers and local radio reports.
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