A massive earthquake in the southern Philippines has killed at least 16, triggering a yard-high tsunami

Manila, Philippines – – A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the southern Philippines on Monday, killing at least 16 people, injuring more than 200 people, most of them in destroyed buildings, and sending a three-meter tsunami to the nearby coast.

A few collapsed buildings and critical infrastructure sustained earthquake damage in the city of General Santos, and tsunami damage was reported in at least one coastal area. Small waves are measured in Indonesia and Palau and in places as far south as Japan.

“It’s a big earthquake and we expect damage,” Teresito Bacolcol, director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, told the Associated Press.

The most powerful earthquake to hit the Philippines this year was centered in the sea at a depth of 20 kilometers, about 20 kilometers southwest of the city of Maasim in Sarangani province, according to the Philippine agency.

General Santos, a southern port city of more than 700,000 people that is the center of the tuna export and other commercial industries, is among the hardest hit.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. he said “the national government is leaving and we will not leave Mindanao behind.”

More tremors followed the 7:37 am quake, which was also felt in Malaysia. Small tsunami waves were detected in Indonesia and Malaysia.

At least seven people were killed and about 130 others were injured in General Santos, where several small buildings partially collapsed and several structures, including an important access bridge, sustained dangerous cracks, Rod Sosmeña, regional director of the Defense Office, told the AP.

Five other people were killed in the southern provinces of Cotabato and Davao Occidental, and Balut Island, according to Sosmeña and another official, Ednar Dayanghirang.

Sosmeña said authorities are looking into reports of other students trapped in a collapsed two-story school in General Santos. He could not immediately provide details but the national police said at least seven people were missing in General Santos.

Public schools reopened on Monday across the country after the summer break. Dayanghirang said more than 100 students who attended the morning flag-raising ceremony suffered bruises and some fainted from shock.

General Santos International Airport was temporarily closed and 17 domestic flights were canceled, airport officials said.

“Our truck suddenly exploded and I thought we had a flat tire,” Sosmeña said. “People ran out of their houses and into the streets.”

Dayanghirang said he was able to “stand and stabilize when the earthquake hit as I left my house” in the southern port of Davao.

Radio station DZRH in Manila reported that a small commercial building where its provincial station was located collapsed and the workers fell to the ground unharmed. It was unclear if other people were trapped in the rubble of the four-story office building. Debris also fell on other buildings, hitting tricycle taxis parked below.

Waves of three meters were recorded in the provinces of Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani.

Malaysia’s Department of Meteorology has issued a tsunami warning for the state of Sabah on the island of Borneo. Sabah is just a boat ride from the southern Philippines. A tsunami of 2.7 meters was measured by a gauge near the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.

The US Geological Survey reported the initial quake’s depth at 34 miles. Differences in estimates by different agencies are common after earthquakes.

The Philippines, one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, is often hit by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions due to its location in the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” which is an arc of seismic faults around the ocean. The archipelago is also hit by about 20 typhoons and tropical storms each year.