A magnitude of 7.8 earthquake struck off the coast of Mindanao island in the southern Philippines, leaving at least 35 dead, as reported by BBC. Mindanao is the Philippines second-biggest island (both in size and population), and is home to around 26 million people.
The earthquake hit at 7.37 local time on Monday triggering tsunami alerts in the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan and Australia. The warnings were cancelled or downgraded some hours later. In an update on Monday afternoon, the Philippines Office of Civil Defense said 31 of the fatalities had been recorded in Soccsksargen, while the other four were in Davao. According to local officials, at least 134 have been injured and some 10,000 families displaced.
More than 130 aftershocks, with magnitudes ranging from 1.3 to 6.7, were recorded after the initial quake. A magnitude of 5.7 earthquake also hit the water off Balut Island, Sarangani, at about 22.52 local time.
Earthquakes are common in the Philippines, which sits on the geologically unstable "ring of fire". While most of these quakes are minor and pass relatively peacefully, some have proven deadly.