Authorities in The Philippines and Indonesia have issued tsunami warnings after a powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Mindanao in the southern Philippines early on October 10 multiple local sources are indicating.

This figure was later revised upwards to M7.6.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology warned that a “destructive tsunami” with “life-threatening wave heights” was expected, urging residents in coastal areas to move inland or to higher ground according to the BBC. The same institute later saw its homepage crash, presumably due to the volume of traffic. As of 12:40 local time it remained offline.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center meanwhile has already said waves could reach up to three metres above normal tide levels in some parts of the Philippines and around one metre higher than normal in some areas of Indonesia.

The earthquake struck at 9:43 local time off Davao Oriental, according to the local INQUIRER.NET at a depth of just 10km. In the two hours following the initial tremor 25 aftershocks hit the same area with the largest at M5.8.

Tsunami warnings also went out across the neighbouring Indonesian islands with thousands moving away from coastal sites in case tsunami waves arrives. Projections in Indonesia included waves of between 50cm and one metre hitting the coast.