Monday morning, June 8, 2026. I was already at the office.
The shaking started gently, then built. My officemates moved quickly toward the door and out of the building — the way people move when years of earthquake drills finally have a real moment to matter. I followed.
We stood outside, on the open ground away from the building, waiting for it to stop. It felt long. It probably was not as long as it felt.
When it finally settled, my first instinct was not to check the news. It was to check on my mom.
I pulled out my phone and opened the Tapo C200 camera feed for our house. My mom was there, in the kitchen, doing what she always does. Unbothered. When I asked her about it afterward, she said she did not even notice the tremor.
Surigao City felt it. My mom, eighty-three years old, apparently did not. I am still not sure what to do with that information except be grateful.
A few minutes later, the news started spreading across social media. A magnitude 7.8 earthquake had struck off Sarangani province. Tsunami warning raised. Coastal evacuations underway.
My next call was to my cousin in Davao. He was undergoing dialysis at that exact time.
He was okay. The facility was okay. But that phone call — waiting for it to connect, waiting for him to answer, waiting to hear that everything was fine while he was in the middle of a medical procedure during a 7.8 earthquake — that is a specific kind of helplessness that I do not think I need to describe further. If you have ever made that kind of call, you know.
What Actually Happened
For those reading this from outside Mindanao, or who only saw fragments on social media — here is the verified picture.
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the coast of Sarangani province at 7:37 am on Monday, June 8, rocking many parts of Mindanao and triggering a tsunami warning. USGS and the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre both placed the magnitude at 7.8, at a depth of approximately 55 kilometers.
The highest reported intensity was PEIS VII — Destructive — felt in General Santos City. The shaking was felt as far as Abuyog and Dulag in Leyte, at PEIS II — slightly felt.
At least 41 people were killed and more than 480 injured across Mindanao — mostly by falling debris and collapsing buildings — and about 10,000 families were evacuated.
The quake hit as learners were starting their first day of school. In Davao City, work and classes at all levels were suspended. Early reports from General Santos City, located roughly 15 km from the epicenter, described fallen furniture, damaged appliances, and structural cracking in at least one commercial building. A local police chief described it as the strongest earthquake residents had experienced.
Tsunami waves were recorded along the coasts of Kiamba and Maasim in Sarangani, and Kalamansig in Sultan Kudarat, with a height of approximately 1 meter — with smaller waves also recorded in Mati City and Zamboanga City. PHIVOLCS recorded tsunami waves of up to 1.4 meters across six coastal areas. The tsunami warning was issued and lifted later that same afternoon.
By the morning of June 9, PHIVOLCS had recorded more than 1,100 aftershocks, including events of magnitude 6.5, 6.0, and 6.0. PHIVOLCS advised that aftershocks could persist for several days to weeks, and that some may be felt in nearby provinces.
To the families who lost someone, and to everyone still dealing with damage, displacement, and the aftershocks that keep coming — my thoughts are with you. This post is not meant to turn what happened into content. It is meant to share what I experienced and what I think is genuinely useful for anyone reading this in Mindanao or anywhere else in the Philippines.
"Is This the Big One?" — No. Here Is the Difference.
I saw this question everywhere on social media in the hours after the quake. I want to address it clearly, because I think there is real confusion that is worth clearing up.
"The Big One" is a specific term PHIVOLCS has used for years to describe a projected scenario: a major earthquake — estimated around magnitude 7.2 — on the West Valley Fault, a fault line that runs directly through Metro Manila, including Marikina, Quezon City, Pasig, Makati, and several other densely populated cities. The scenario planning around "The Big One" is specifically about what happens when that fault, which has not had a major movement in centuries, eventually does.
The June 8 earthquake was a different event entirely — offshore Sarangani, in Mindanao, with the Cotabato Trench being examined as a possible cause. Different fault system. Different region. Different projected impacts.
So no — June 8 was not "The Big One." The Big One, as PHIVOLCS defines it, has not happened.
What June 8 does remind us of — and this is the part that matters regardless of which fault is involved — is that the Philippines sits on multiple active fault systems and trenches simultaneously. Mindanao has its own seismic hazards. Metro Manila has its own. The Visayas has its own. A major earthquake in one region does not mean another region is "due" or "safe" — they are separate hazards that all happen to exist in the same country.
Preparedness should not be a Manila-specific conversation. June 8 proved that.
What I Did — And What I Wish I Had Prepared Better
Being honest about my own preparedness, because I think that honesty is more useful than pretending I had everything figured out.
What worked: The Tapo C200 camera let me check on my mom within seconds, without needing to call and potentially add to network congestion during an emergency — when phone lines are often overloaded right after a major event. That gave me real, immediate information instead of anxious waiting.
What I have not done: I do not have a properly assembled go-bag at home. I do not have a written family emergency plan — what to do, where to meet, who calls whom, in what order — beyond the instinctive "I will call mom and my cousin" that I did on June 8. That instinct worked this time. It should not have to be the plan.
What I am doing now: Putting together an actual emergency kit. Water, flashlight, whistle, first aid basics, copies of important documents in a waterproof bag, a battery-powered radio. Surigao City is itself in an earthquake and tsunami-prone area — we have our own seismic history. June 8 was Sarangani's reminder. The next one could be ours.
This Was Not My First Earthquake
I want to add something I did not fully process until writing this post.
On February 10, 2017 — at 10:03 PM — a magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck off the coast of Surigao del Norte. The epicenter was roughly 14 to 16 kilometers offshore, northwest of Surigao City, at a shallow depth of around 10 to 15 kilometers. Surigao City experienced Intensity VII — Destructive. Eight people died, 202 were injured, and over 7,200 houses were damaged, with 518 completely destroyed. Surigao City was placed under a state of calamity.
I was at home that night. My girlfriend at the time — now my wife — was with me.
10PM. Already settled in for the evening. And then the ground simply did not stop moving.
I do not have a clean, composed memory of that night the way I might describe other events. What I remember is the duration — how long it felt like it lasted, how the house moved in ways a house is not supposed to move, and the specific fear of being indoors at night during an earthquake that strong. The shaking generated a 4.3 kilometer surface rupture, and some barangays experienced strong ground shaking at PEIS VIII.
We were okay. Our house held. But that night is the reason I do not need convincing that Surigao City is an earthquake area. I do not need PHIVOLCS to tell me. I lived it, in this city, in a house not far from where I live now, with the person who is now my wife beside me.
So when June 8 happened — when I felt that shaking in the office and immediately thought of my mom — some part of that reaction is built on February 10, 2017. The body remembers what the mind sometimes does not fully process. Nine years later, a different earthquake, a different fault, a different region — and the same immediate instinct: check on the people you love, right now.
This is also why I am genuinely committing to building that emergency kit, and not just writing about it as good advice for other people. Surigao City has already shown what Intensity VII feels like, in this exact place, within my lifetime. June 8 in Sarangani was a reminder from a different province. February 10, 2017 was the reminder from my own.
Basic Earthquake Preparedness — For Anyone Reading This
If June 8 made you think about your own preparedness — here is where to start, regardless of where in the Philippines you are:
During shaking: Drop, cover, and hold on. Get under sturdy furniture or against an interior wall away from windows. If outdoors, move away from buildings, trees, and power lines.
After shaking stops: Check yourself and those around you for injuries before checking anything else. Expect aftershocks — they can come minutes, hours, or days later.
If you are in a coastal area and feel a strong earthquake: Do not wait for an official tsunami warning if the shaking was strong and prolonged. Move to higher ground immediately. The earthquake itself is the warning.
Family communication plan: Decide now — before anything happens — who calls whom, and have a backup meeting point if phone networks are congested. The first hour after a major earthquake often has overloaded cell networks. A pre-agreed plan matters more than a phone call that might not connect.
Emergency kit basics: Water (at least 3 days' worth per person), non-perishable food, flashlight with extra batteries, first aid kit, whistle, important documents in a waterproof container, cash (ATMs and digital payments may be down), and any essential medications.
For families with members on regular medical treatment — dialysis, like my cousin, or any condition requiring scheduled care — know your facility's emergency protocols in advance. Ask. Do not wait until an earthquake happens during a session to find out what the plan is.
This post is for informational and awareness purposes. Earthquake preparedness guidance is based on PHIVOLCS and general disaster-preparedness recommendations. For official updates on aftershocks and advisories, follow PHIVOLCS directly through their official channels.
Before I Close This Tab
My mom did not feel the earthquake that I felt clearly from inside an office building in Surigao City. My cousin was in the middle of dialysis in Davao when a 7.8 hit offshore. Both of them were okay.
Forty-one families did not get that outcome.
I am writing this post because I think the information matters — what happened, what the "Big One" actually refers to, and what preparedness genuinely looks like beyond the drills we sometimes go through without really thinking about why.
But I also want to acknowledge, plainly, that June 8 was a real disaster with real loss. If you are in Mindanao and you are still dealing with aftershocks, displacement, or the aftermath in any way — I hope you have support, and I hope the aftershocks ease soon.
Take care of each other. Check on the people you love. And maybe — put together that emergency kit this week, while it is still on your mind. I am no longer just saying that as good advice. After February 2017 and June 2026 — both within my own lifetime, one in my own city — I am finally doing it myself.
-Mavs
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