Breaking: Earthquake strikes southern Philippines
At 07:37 AM on Monday 8th ofJune 2026, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck offshore Sarangani in southern Mindanao, at a shallow depth of 33km. The quake caused destructive ground shaking in parts of Mindanao including General Santos City. A tsunami warning was issued, with possible waves exceeding 1 metre, prompting immediate evacuations of coastal communities.
A strong aftershock of 6.7 magnitude followed later that morning. Further aftershocks are expected.
Schools were disrupted on what was meant to be the first day of the school year. Assessments are ongoing, and the full scale of damage and casualties is not yet known.
Save the Children is mobilising.
Save the Children staff and volunteers load hygiene kits, packed in reusable buckets, onto trucks for distribution to families affected by the 6.9-magnitude earthquake in 2025 in Cebu, Philippines.
Save the Children is responding
Our Emergency Response Team is being mobilised. We have initial funds and supplies ready for deployment.
We are preparing a Rapid Needs Assessment to understand exactly where children and families need help most. Prepositioned supplies - including household kits, education-in-emergencies materials, and WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) supplies - are ready to deploy.
In the coming hours and days, we expect humanitarian needs to grow, particularly around shelter, clean water and sanitation, child protection, and education.
We've been working in the Philippines since 1981. Our teams have responded to some of the country's worst disasters - including the 6.9 magnitude Cebu earthquake in September 2025, when we reached families with hygiene kits and emergency support within days. We know how to respond, and we know what children need.
Your generous donation could provide children and families affected by the Earthquake in the Philippines as well as other disasters across the world, with life-saving essentials like food, water and crucial mental health support. It can also help create lasting change through longer term programmes to alleviate poverty and the chronic impact of climate change.
What children are facing right now
The Philippines sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" and is ranked the world's most disaster-prone country. Children make up around 33.6% of the population - so when disasters strike, children pay the heaviest price.
Today's earthquake struck on the first day of the school year. Schools across affected areas were immediately suspended, with children and families evacuated from coastal communities as the tsunami warning was issued. Housing and infrastructure in high-intensity areas is expected to have suffered moderate to severe damage. Casualties and damage are likely being underreported as assessments are still getting underway.
This comes after a punishing year for the Philippines. In late 2025, two deadly typhoons struck within a single week, and the Cebu earthquake in September damaged or destroyed 72,000 homes. Many communities had barely started to recover.
After the 2025 Tropical Storm Wipha, Tin*, 10, misses going to school and seeing her classmates. “Instead of studying, I’m playing here at our school,” she said, when their school in Caloocan City was turned into an evacuation centre in 2025. She said she feels sad whenever it rains, afraid their area will flood again.
Why Your Donation Matters
For over 100 years Save the Children have fought for a fairer world for children.
Month after month, in the UK and around the world, we make sure children stay safe, healthy and keep learning through the toughest times. Whether they're at risk due to conflict, poverty or the global food crisis we ensure we are there providing vital resources such as food, water, education and mental health support to ease their suffering and help recovery.
We could not do this without our supporters who give a donation every month.
Monthly donations allow us to plan for the long term. To be not just reactive, but proactive in thousands of projects helping children across the world, all designed with one thing in mind: to improve the lives of children.
How Your Donation Can Help
Save the Children’s ambition is a world in which every child has the right to survive, learn and be protected. We were founded on the belief that every child deserves the chance of a future. This belief underpins everything we do.
Together with families, supporters and partners, we work to help every child get the future they deserve - focusing our efforts where the need is greatest.
Your donation could help ensure children:
- Get a healthy start in life: From training midwives through to setting up Emergency Health Units, we work to enable safe birth.
- Learn and go to school safely: Campaigning for marginalised and poverty stricken children, setting up temporary learning spaces and repairing damaged schools in conflicts.
- Are protected from hunger: Our teams provide counselling, breastfeeding support, malnutrition screening, vitamin supplements and cash transfers.
- Grow up in resilient families: Our family tracing team work tirelessly all over the world to reunited children parents and siblings for a lifetime of belonging.
Who are Save the Children UK?
Every child has a unique story. We help children rewrite theirs.
Save the Children fights for children every single day so they can fulfil their unique potential.
Month after month, in the UK and around the world, we make sure children stay safe, healthy and keep learning, so they can become who they want to be.
We could not do this without our supporters who give a donation every month.
Monthly donations allow us to plan for the long term. To be not just reactive, but proactive in thousands of projects across the world, all designed with one thing in mind: to improve the lives of children.
We know what needs to be done. To do it, we need you.
