Panic was observed in the southern Philippines on Friday morning as an earthquake of 7.6 magnitude struck the area, prompting tsunami warnings.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said it was expecting damage and aftershocks from the earthquake.
Sharing details of the quake, the agency said it was centred at sea about 38 miles southeast of Manay town in Davao Oriental province and was caused by movement in a fault at a shallow depth of 10 km.
Authorities called for the immediate evacuation of coastal towns in the central and southern Philippines, noting that wave heights of over one metre above normal tides could be expected.
Besides the Philippines, a tsunami warning was also issued in Indonesia for its northern Sulawesi and Papua regions.
The governor of the southern Philippine province of Davao Oriental, Edwin Jubahib, informed the press that damage was reported to some buildings, as he referred to the earthquake as "very strong".
The strong quake came two weeks after the Philippines experienced its deadliest quake in more than a decade, with 72 people killed on the island of Cebu. That was a magnitude of 6.9 and also struck offshore.
Notably, the Philippines is located on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" and experiences more than 800 quakes each year.
