Deaths, damage and tsunami after magnitude-7.8 earthquake hits Philippines

A magnitude-7.8 earthquake has hit the Mindanao region in the southern Philippines, killing at least eight people and collapsing buildings.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the threat of a tsunami had largely passed about five hours after the 7:37am quake.

The Philippine leader said disaster-response agencies were on standby to respond.

A powerful magnitude-7.8 earthquake rocked the southern Philippines, damaging buildings and setting off a 1 metre tsunami that washed ashore on nearby coasts.

At least eight people have been killed in the quake, the Philippine Civil Defence Office said, with local police saying hundreds more were injured.

But it still urged people to stay alert and to heed warnings from local authorities as sea levels may fluctuate for a few more hours.

"Many buildings were affected, but I cannot enumerate them now because we are busy with ongoing rescues," Master Sergeant Robert Dagon of the General Santos City police said.

Several buildings collapsed during the quake in General Santos. (Supplied: GenSan DEV)

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr urged people to go to higher ground in areas vulnerable to a tsunami, and Indonesian and Malaysian authorities also issued warnings to their nearby coastal areas.

"The national government is moving and we will not leave Mindanao behind," he said.

The epicentre was 13 kilometres south-west of General Santos City on the island of Mindanao and had a depth of 10 kilometres, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) said tsunami waves up to 3 metres were possible on some coasts of the Philippines.

Waves up to 1 metre were possible on some coasts of Indonesia and Malaysia.

"We advise people to evacuate to higher grounds or go further inland," Teresito Bacolcol, the head of the Philippine volcanology institute, warned people living in coastal areas.

Indonesia has ordered evacuations of northern areas threatened by tsunami waves, including the North Sulawesi capital, Manado, northern Gorontalo province and the Sangihe islands.

The PTWC said smaller tsunami waves were possible in Taiwan, Japan, Guam, Papua New Guinea and several island nations and territories in the western Pacific.

Japanese authorities issued a tsunami advisory along swathes of its Pacific coast, with the country's meteorological agency saying that tsunamis of up to 1 metre were projected to hit different regions from 11:30am, local time.

Police gather in front of a collapsed Jollibee fast food restaurant. (AFP: Edwin Espejo)

There was no th