General Santos, the largest city near the epicenter of Monday's magnitude 7.8 earthquake, spent the day taking stock of widespread damage after the shaking toppled buildings, cracked roads and forced the evacuation of one of its main hospitals. The port city of roughly 722,000 in the Soccsksargen region was closest to the offshore quake, which struck about 32 kilometers south-southwest of Maasim in neighboring Sarangani province.
St Elizabeth Hospital, a major medical center in the city, was severely damaged, and staff moved patients outside as engineers assessed whether the structure was safe. At Notre Dame of Dadiangas University, parts of campus buildings caved in, and a three-story commercial building housing a Jollibee outlet collapsed, scenes that underscored the force of the early-morning jolt.
The Department of Public Works and Highways put initial damage in General Santos alone at roughly 1 billion pesos, a figure officials cautioned was preliminary as inspections of bridges, schools and public buildings continued. Crews reported caved-in roofs and shattered windows across the commercial district, and some neighborhoods lost power and water service.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered schools in affected areas closed, a decision that landed on the first day of the Philippine school year, when millions of students were due back in class. Local officials said classes would not resume until structures had been checked, and they urged families to stay clear of damaged buildings amid continuing aftershocks, some measured as strong as magnitude 6.5.
A one-meter tsunami reached nearby coasts after the quake, prompting brief evacuations along the shoreline before warnings were lifted by mid-afternoon. In Sarangani, a quake-triggered landslide killed 13 villagers, the deadliest single incident in a disaster that left at least 32 people dead across the southern Philippines.
City and provincial disaster officials said they were prioritizing search efforts, medical care for the more than 100 people injured and temporary shelter for residents whose homes were damaged. Marcos pledged national support for the response, and aid agencies began moving supplies toward General Santos as the scale of the damage became clearer.