![A building in General Santos City lies in ruins after a magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck off the coast of Mindanao island in the southern Philippines on June 8. [EPA]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/06/09/rcv.YNA.20260608.PEP20260608162901009_P1.jpg)
The death toll from a magnitude-7.8 earthquake that struck the southern Philippines has climbed to 41.
According to AFP, Reuters and other news agencies, the quake hit off the coast of Mindanao island on June 8, killing at least 41 people and injuring 487 others. About 20,000 people have been displaced.
The Philippine Civil Defense Authority said four people are officially listed as missing, but added that collapsed buildings must be thoroughly searched for additional survivors or victims.
General Santos City, a major urban center of roughly 700,000 people located about 60 kilometers north of the epicenter, suffered some of the worst damage — at least 13 people died there as numerous buildings collapsed and power infrastructure was knocked out. Rescue teams continue to search the rubble for survivors.
Local fire department officials said two survivors were pulled from a commercial building, but one other person was found dead inside. Two more people are believed to be trapped beneath the debris, though their condition remains unknown.
In Sarangani Province near General Santos City, landslides killed at least 18 people. Additional fatalities were reported in South Cotabato Province, Davao Oriental Province and Balut Island.
The earthquake destroyed more than 400 homes and damaged roughly 2,000 others. At least 117 government facilities and about 20 bridges were also damaged.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said it recorded more than 1,100 aftershocks following the initial quake, including 23 strong ones of magnitude 6.7 or higher.
Authorities warned that buildings already cracked by the quake could collapse in further aftershocks, leaving many residents unable to return home and forcing them to spend the night in shelters and temporary tents. Classes at more than 6,200 schools in the affected areas have been suspended pending safety inspections.
The Associated Press described the earthquake as the worst to hit the Philippines in roughly 50 years, since a magnitude-8.1 quake struck Mindanao in 1976. That disaster triggered a tsunami with waves reaching up to 15 meters, killing between 5,000 and 8,000 people.
betterj@heraldcorp.com
