Philippines earthquake: Search for missing continues after powerful quake claims 46 lives

The death toll from Monday’s 7.8-magnitude earthquake off the Philippines' Mindanao coast rose to 46 on Wednesday, according to AFP.

Rescue workers recovered a body from the rubble of a collapsed supermarket in General Santos City in southern Philippines. The victim was identified as 39-year-old Joey Deluvio, one of two employees trapped inside the store, which had been the focus of ongoing rescue operations.

Although life-detecting equipment had earlier picked up a faint signal during the search, responders found no signs of life when they reached the body, which was pinned between two beams, local rescuer Michelle Chua said.

The national disaster agency had earlier placed the death toll at 45, a figure that did not yet include Deluvio’s recovery. The number of missing also rose sharply from four to 17.

Civil defence official Rafaelito Alejandro said most of the newly confirmed fatalities were from Davao Occidental province, with many victims killed by landslides or building collapses. The powerful tremor triggered landslides, brought down structures, and set off tsunami warnings across the southern island.

The quake struck at a depth of 33 kilometres (20 miles), about 32 kilometres southwest of Maasim town in Sarangani province. Impacts were also reported in neighbouring countries. Malaysia’s Sabah state on Borneo, the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, and parts of the western Pacific were affected, with tsunami waves recorded in several locations, including 83 centimetres off Sulawesi, 30 centimetres in Palau, and around 20 centimetres reaching Kushimoto in Japan and Chichi-jima island, also in Japan.
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