BEIJING, Jun 8 — A 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck the Philippine Islands region at 7.37 am Malaysian time today, according to the China Earthquake Networks Centre (CENC), reported Xinhua.
The epicentre, at a depth of 40km, was located at 5.55 degrees north latitude and 125.1 degrees east longitude.
In a Facebook post, MetMalaysia said the earthquake occurred at a depth of 50km, about 97km south of Koronadal City, Philippines.
Tremors were also felt in Sabah, involving Tawau, Semporna and surrounding areas.
“MetMalaysia is monitoring developments in the incident,” the post said.
Meanwhile, MetMalaysia director-general Dr Mohd Hisham Mohd Anip, in a separate statement, said that based on analysis, a tsunami of up to 0.4m is expected to hit coastal areas in Tawau, Semporna, Kunak and Lahad Datu between 10.30 am and 12 pm today.
In this regard, he urged the public in the affected areas to remain vigilant and comply with instructions issued by the authorities from time to time.
“MetMalaysia will continue to monitor the situation and issue updates from time to time.
“Get the latest weather and earthquake information via the official website, the myCuaca mobile application and the department’s official social media channels, and contact the hotline 1300-22-1638 for further enquiries,” he said.
Japan's weather agency also today issued tsunami advisories for coastal areas stretching from Ibaraki Prefecture on the country's eastern Pacific coast to Okinawa Prefecture in the south.
In Jakarta, Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency issued a bulletin this morning, activating an early tsunami warning for coastal areas in northeastern Indonesia following the strong earthquake in the southern Philippines.
