June 14, 2026, 11:13June 14, 2026, 11:13
Almost a week after the severe earthquake in the Philippines, the death toll has risen to at least 61 after more bodies were found. The National Civil Protection announced on Sunday that 40 people were missing and more than 1,400 were injured.
A damaged residential building after the earthquake in the Philippines.Image: keystone
Damage to roads and bridges has cut off several villages from the outside world, hindering rescue work and supplies, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Asia and the Pacific (Ocha) reported.
Earthquakes have consequences for hundreds of thousands
The magnitude 7.8 quake shook Sarangani province on Monday, about 1,000 kilometers south of the capital Manila. According to Ocha, almost 64,000 houses and some critical infrastructure worth a trillion pesos (around 13 million francs) were damaged or destroyed.
According to the US Earthquake Observatory USGS, it was the world’s strongest of the year. Countless aftershocks followed. According to the authorities, more than 720,000 people are affected by the consequences.
Authority: Quake raised the coast by two meters in some parts
Tsunami warnings for the Philippines and Indonesia that were issued immediately after the quake were lifted on Monday. Smaller tidal waves were recorded in several coastal areas. The earthquake raised the coast by about two meters in some places in Sarangani and Davao Occidental provinces, said the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs). Corals can now be seen that were previously underwater.
The Philippines lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire, one of the most seismically active regions on earth. Several earth’s plates collide there, which is why strong earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur regularly. (dab/sda/dpa)