A powerful earthquake measuring magnitude 7.5 shook the eastern waters off Mindanao, Philippines, on Friday, prompting an initial tsunami warning which has since been cancelled.

The quake struck offshore near Manay town, in Davao Oriental, at a depth of about 62 km.  Residents in coastal areas were urged to evacuate to higher ground earlier, but officials later determined that the tsunami threat had passed.

In Davao city, home to roughly 5.4 million people and located about 250 km west of Davao Oriental, students were evacuated from schools and took shelter outdoors.  The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) had initially forecast “life-threatening” wave heights, warning that waves of over one metre above normal tides might hit, especially in enclosed bays and straits.