On Monday Morning a DAMAGING M7.8 Earthquake struck in the Sulawesi Sea near General Santos (The Philippines).

Written by Earthquakelist.org on June 7th, 2026. Last updated July 21st, 2026.

In the Sulawesi Sea 59 kilometer from General Santos, The Philippines, a DAMAGING and very strong M7.8 earthquake occurred in the morning of Monday June 8th, 2026. Mag 6.5+ earthquakes at shallow depth under sea have the potential to cause tsunami's. Another nearby country is Indonesia.

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Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the Sulawesi Sea, 24 kilometers (15 mi) off the coast of The Philippines, 59 kilometer south of General Santos in Soccsksargen. The center of this earthquake had a quite shallow depth of 57 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Jun 8, 2026 07:37AM (Manila Time) - Jun 7, 2026 23:37 Universal Time.
Location:	59 km south of General Santos, Soccsksargen, The Philippines. Coordinates 5°35'58"N 125°3'22"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 7.8 Detected by 125 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.028 .
Depth:	57 km (35 mi) A quite shallow depth.
Max. Intensity:	IX Violent On the Modified Mercalli Scale.
Tsunami Risk:	Potential Tsunami Risk Mag 6.5+ earthquakes at shallow depth under sea have the potential to cause tsunami's. Always stay cautious - More info here.

Potential Tsunami Risk

There is a potential tsunami risk in the aftermath of this earthquake, immediately evacuate to higher grounds away from coastal areas and monitor advice from local authorities. This earthquake checks all the likely tsunami risk factors: under sea, at a magnitude of MAG-6.5+ and at a shallow depth.

Tsunami Risk Factors

Significant impact predicted

The US Geographic Survey (USGS) describes the impact of this earthquake as follows:

At least 71 people killed, 1,236 injured and 7 missing; 13,075 houses destroyed and 84,188 damaged; 783 critical infrastructure, 15 roads, 8 bridges and 2 seaports damaged, including the closure of General Santos City Airport; communication, power and water outages occurred; 35 landslides occurred in SOCCSKSARGEN, including the worst affected areas of General Santos, Sarangani and South Cotabato. At least 21 people killed, 79 injured and 13 missing; 5,272 houses destroyed and 10,690 damaged; 751 critical infrastructure damaged; power and water outages occurred; 35 landslides and 7 ground cracks occurred in Davao Region. At least one person injured, 6 houses destroyed and 40 damaged; 4 critical infrastructure damaged in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. At least six houses destroyed and one house and one critical infrastructure damaged in Zamboanga Peninsula. Maximum intensity IX. Uplift of 2 m occurred along the coastline of southern Mindanao from Glan to Jose Abad Santos exposing coral reefs and other previously submerged areas. At least one person killed, four injured and 100 homes and some buildings damaged in Kabupaten Kepulauan Sangihe and Kabupaten Kepulauan Talaud, Indonesia. A tsunami was generated with the largest maximum wave height listed in meters based on location: 1.48 at Kiamba, Philippines; .83 on Pulau Sangihe, Indonesia; .3 at Miyazaki Ko, Japan; .03 on Malakal, Palau; .02 at Pago Bay, Guam, U. S. Territory.

Based on scientific estimates by the USGS, the risk of high fatalities for this earthquake is classified at level ORANGE (orange). They expect an 38% likelyhood of between 100 and 1,000 fatalities, and a 98% chance that the number of fatalities falls between 1 and 10,000.

The USGS classifies the economic impact of this earthquake at level ORANGE (orange). They expect an 35% likelyhood of between 100 and 1,000 million US Dollars in economic damage and impact, and a 92% chance that the economic impact of this earthquake falls between 10 and 100,000 million USD.

Roughly 29 million people exposed to shaking

The USGS has published a report estimating the number of people exposed to this earthquake. Acoording to their analysis, roughly 29 million have been exposed to shaking at an MMI level of II or higher.

The highest earthquake impact level for this earthquake is IX, which corresponds with violent shaking and likely heavy damage. Roughly 9,620 people are expected to be exposed to this level. Intensity level IV was experienced by a large group of people (around 11 million). In their region, light shaking and likely no damage can be expected.

People in 2 countries have been exposed to shaking. In The Philippines , around 28 million people, with impact levels up to IX (violent shaking, likely heavy damage). In Indonesia, shaking was experienced too.

Nearby towns and cities

The Philippines and Indonesia are both located within 300km distance of the epicenter of the earthquake. Futher away, this earthquake may also have been felt in Malaysia, Palau and Brunei.

Glan in Soccsksargen, The Philippines is the nearest significant place from the epicenter. The earthquake occurred 30 kilometer (19 mi) southwest of Glan. The intensity of shaking and damage in Glan is estimated to be around level VIII on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale (severe shaking, likely moderate to heavy damage).

Multiple large cities are in proximity of today's earthquake. General Santos is located 59 km to the north and experienced an intensity of VIII (severe shaking, likely moderate to heavy damage). Davao is located 175 km to the north and experienced an intensity of VI (strong shaking, probably light damage). Budta is located 191 km to the north and experienced an intensity of VI (strong shaking, probably light damage).

A complete list of nearby places is included below. Estimated intensity data (MMI) sourced from a shake-map published by the US Geographic Survey is shown where available (cities without data probably experienced little impact).

Overview of nearby places

Earthquake Intensity Map

The graph below overlays a map of the region around the epicenter with earthquake intensity data provided by the US Geographic Survey. The highest intensity level detected for this earthquake is IX.

I Not felt

II Weak

III Weak

IV Light

V Moderate

VI Strong

VII Very Strong

VIII Severe

IX Violent

X Extreme

Shaking reported by 343 people in 5 countries

People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 343 people have reported shaking in 100 places in 5 countries (Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, Taiwan).We keep updating this article as more ground reports become available. You may report that you felt this earthquake here.

Places with most reports:

• Manado, Sulawesi Utara, Indonesia: 75 people.
• Davao, Southern Mindanao, Philippines: 43 people.
• Buayan, Southern Mindanao, Philippines: 20 people.
• Katangawan, Southern Mindanao, Philippines: 16 people.
• San Jose (General Santos City, South Cotabato), Southern Mindanao, Philippines: 14 people.
• Bitung, Sulawesi Utara, Indonesia: 10 people.
• Lun, Southern Mindanao, Philippines: 7 people.
• Polomolok, Southern Mindanao, Philippines: 6 people.
• Malapatan, Southern Mindanao, Philippines: 5 people.
• Tondano, Sulawesi Utara, Indonesia: 5 people.

375 Aftershocks detected

After this earthquake struck, 375 smaller aftershocks occurred. A 6.5 magnitude earthquake hit 1 hr later 23 km (14 mi) south-east of this earthquake.

This main shock was prefaced by 3 smaller foreshocks. A 4.5 magnitude earthquake hit 2 days earlier nearby.

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

More earthquakes coming?

Earthquakes can create aftershocks. These are generally at least 1 magnitude lower than any main shock, and as time passes the chance and strength of aftershocks decreases.

In only six percent of cases, significant earthquakes are followed by a larger main shock, making the current earthquake a foreshock. While the chance of this happening is not so large, it is adviced to maintain cautiousness in the hours and days following a major earthquake.

This is an unusually powerful earthquake

No earthquake of this strength has struck this region for a long time. Our data goes back 10 years, and no earthquakes measuring a magnitude of 7.8 or higher have been detected within 300 km (186 mi) of this epicenter.

Sources

Last updated 21/07/26 03:18 (). As more information on this earthquake becomes available this article will be updated. This article is automatically composed based on data originating from multiple sources.

1. US Geographic Society (USGS): Earthquake us7000srb1
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20260607_0000366
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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