[Source: Reuters]

Two powerful offshore earthquakes struck off the southern Philippines on Friday, killing at least seven people, while towns near the epicentre suffered structural damage and authorities warned of strong aftershocks.

The first quake of magnitude 7.4, in waters off the town of Manay in the province of Davao Oriental, triggered a tsunami alert for coasts within 300 km (186 miles) of the epicentre, but the warnings for the Philippines and Indonesia were subsequently lifted.

A second earthquake of magnitude 6.8 struck the same area seven hours later, triggering a new tsunami warning, with the country’s seismology agency Phivolcs warning of possible waves that could be more than one metre (3.2 feet) higher than normal tides.

People living near coastal areas in the southern Philippines were “strongly advised to immediately evacuate” to higher ground, or move further inland, it said in an advisory.

Phivolcs Director Teresito Bacolcol described the twin earthquakes as a “doublet”, two distinct earthquakes that occurred along a massive trench off the country’s eastern seaboard.

There were initial reports of damage to homes, buildings and bridges, one official in Manay said, although the full extent of the damage in the Philippines was not immediately clear.

At least seven people were killed, civil defence official Ednar Dayanghirang said in a briefing. The fatalities were reported in towns and cities near the earthquake’s epicentre.

The twin quakes were among the strongest in recent years to hit the Philippines, which sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and experiences more than 800 quakes each year.

It came two weeks after the Philippines experienced its deadliest earthquake in more than a decade with 74 people killed on the central island of Cebu following an offshore quake of magnitude 6.9.

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