A powerful 6.9-magnitude aftershock jolted quake-hit southern Philippines late Friday, triggering a fresh tsunami alert just hours after an earlier warning was lifted, authorities said. At least five people were killed, officials said, and there were reports of damage.
The tremor struck at 7:12 p.m. local time, prompting the Philippine seismology office to warn of "life-threatening wave heights" and urge coastal residents to "immediately evacuate to higher grounds or move farther inland."
The aftershock, the largest of at least 300 recorded so far, came fewer than 10 hours after the Pacific seaboard of the southern major island of Mindanao was rocked by a 7.4-magnitude temblor.
At least five people were killed, including two patients who died of heart attacks at a hospital during the first earthquake and a resident who was hit by debris in Mati city in Davao Oriental, Ednar Dayanghirang, regional director of the government's Office of Civil Defense, told The Associated Press by telephone.
Two villagers died and several others were rescued with injuries by army troops and civilian volunteers in a landslide set off by the first quake in a remote gold-mining village in Pantukan town in Davao de Oro province near Davao Oriental, Dayanghirang said.
Office of Civil Defense deputy administrator Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV said that several buildings sustained cracks in their walls, including an international airport in Davao city, but it remained operational without any flights being canceled, Alejandro said.
"I was driving my car when it suddenly swayed and I saw power lines swaying wildly. People darted out of houses and buildings as the ground shook and electricity came off," Jun Saavedra, a disaster mitigation officer of Governor Generoso town in Davao Oriental, told The Associated Press by cellphone.
In this photo provided by the Bureau of Fire Protection, a firefighter walks past a damaged structure following a strong earthquake in Davao Oriental province, southern Philippines on Friday Oct. 10, 2025.
Bureau of Fire Protection via AP
In Davao city, more than 650 miles to the west, a plane that had just landed with an AFP photographer on board shook as the crew prevented passengers from immediately deplaning.
They were later allowed to disembark, but were made to wait outside on the tarmac, instead of being taken inside the passenger terminal.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
