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Philippines 7.8 earthquake: Rescuers race against time to save 17 missing persons
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said 33,596 families or 149,372 persons were affected. Of these, 8,813 families or 32,464 individuals are in 57 evacuation centres
- PUBLISHED: Wed 10 Jun 2026, 11:47 AM
Rescue efforts on 17 remaining missing persons are ongoing as the death toll has risen to at least 45 from Monday’s destructive earthquake in Southern Philippines. Several of the missing victims are workers of a collapsed grocery store while others are fisher folk believed to have been swept by the resulting tsunami.
Philippine Office of Civil Defense (OCD) assistant secretary Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV said the deaths include 18 in Sarangani, 15 in South Cotabato, 11 in Davao Occidental, and one in Davao del Sur. Alejandro added some 630 were reported injured, he added.
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The Philippine National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said in a separate update that 33,596 families or 149,372 persons were affected. Of these, 8,813 families, or 32,464 individuals, are being assisted inside 57 evacuation centers, while another 1,804 families, equivalent to 8,973 persons, are sheltering with families or friends.
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Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. visited General Santos City on Wednesday, inspecting hospitals and schools damaged by the Magnitude 7.8 tremor and ordering quick distribution of relief goods to affected residents.
Power outages, weak internet
But while his government claims that electricity and internet signals have been restored in the city, residents told Khaleej Times that power supply remains intermittent and internet signals remains spotty in the city.
“Yes, power is back. But every now and then, it fluctuates or goes out altogether,” film director Gutierrez Mangansakan IV said. He added: “Telecommunications provider Globe’s signal is weak while the others are ok.”
Mangansakan said the power outages affect the quality of internet signal. “If the outages last more than two hours, the connection suffers. Perhaps the batteries of the signal towers are being depleted,” he said.
He also said some aftershocks remain strong. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has recorded 2,067 aftershocks as of Wednesday morning.
Army rescuers arrive
Meanwhile, the Philippine Army Philippine Army has deployed its elite urban search and rescue (USAR) team to General Santos City as search-and-rescue efforts in quake-affected areas kick into high gear in a bid to save missing victims under the rubble of collapsed structures.
General Santos City International Airport remains closed to commercial flights, although its largely intact runway still accepts relief flights. The facility’s passenger terminal have been substantially damage by the destructive tremor.