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Watch: Building collapses during earthquake

Videos posted to Facebook and verified by AFP showed a shopping centre with a Jollibee fast food restaurant reduced to rubble in the province's General Santos City during the earthquake, while a school building that officials said was unoccupied crumpled in another.

"Lord, it has really collapsed! ... The building has really collapsed!" someone can be heard shouting.

Philippine authorities tell public to expect aftershocks

People in areas affected by the quake should expect aftershocks and stay evacuated until the tsunami warning is lifted, the head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said, according to Philippine News Agency (PNA).

"People should stay away from damaged buildings, and check for cracks," Phivolcs Director Teresito Bacolcol told the Philippine News Agency in an interview.

Japan issues tsunami advisory

Japanese authorities separately issued a tsunami advisory for swathes of its Pacific coast, projecting waves of up to one metre (three feet) to hit different regions from 11.30am local time (0230 GMT).

Evacuations in Philippine, Indonesian coastal regions

Authorities in the Philippines and Indonesia urged residents in affected coastal regions to move to higher ground immediately, after the offshore quake hit about 24 kilometres west of Mindanao island's Sarangani province, the United States Geological Survey said.

People walk as they evacuate to the highlands after Indonesia’s geophysics agency issued a tsunami warning following an earthquake off the southern Philippine island of Mindanao that was also felt in Tahuna, Sangihe Islands regency, North Sulawesi province, Indonesia

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos suspended school classes in affected areas of Mindanao while calling on residents in coastal areas to evacuate immediately.

"Move to higher ground now. Do not wait," he said. "Your life is more important than anything left behind."

The country's national disaster agency said reports of casualties were "still being verified".

Indonesia's national disaster agency, meanwhile, instructed officials in the North Sulawesi capital, Manado, northern Gorontalo province and the Sangihe islands "to immediately direct their residents to evacuate in an orderly manner to higher ground".

Tsunami possible; multiple countries affected

Philvolcs said tsunami waves were possible “within the next three hours” along the coasts of the southern Mindanao, including in the provinces of Sarangani, Davao del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, Sulu and Tawi-tawi, as per KT correspondent Raymund Villanueva.

A metre-high tiday wave is also possible in the coasts of Indonesia, Palau, Taiwan and Papua New Guinea, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

Schools closed on first day of academic new year

A school building collapsed just as hundreds of thousands of students started their first day of the new academic year in the country, KT correspondent Raymund Villanueva. The Department of Education has cancelled classes in the affected areas.

A fastfood store and a commercial building that houses a radio station also collapsed in the said city, the police said.

One confirmed dead in earthquake

The Philippine National Police reported that one victim has died while four others were injured in the earthquake that hit the Philippines on Monday, reported KT correspondent Raymund Villanueva.

Categorised as “destructive earthquake,” the tremblor occurred 35 kilometers off the west coast of Sarangani Province at 7:37 AM at a depth of 10 kilometers, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.

Philippines Seismology Agency records tsunami waves after massive earthquake

Philippines Seismology Agency said that six monitoring stations have recorded tsunami waves after the massive earthquake that struck on Monday morning.

The highest wave recorded as of now is 1.4 metres tall.

Massive earthquake strikes Philippines

A massive magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit Philippines off Sarangani on Monday morning, damaging buildings and disrupting utility services n in Mindanao.

According to Reuters, authorities are verifying reports of five deaths. Philippine media sources said that electricity services were disrupted and classes were cancelled.

Tsunami warnings have been issued in multiple countries, including Indonesia and Malaysia, according to media reports.

Stay tuned to Khaleej Times as we bring you the latest developments after the earthquake.