MANILA, Dec 2 — An earthquake of magnitude 7.5 struck Mindanao, Philippines, today, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said, at a depth of 63km, and tsunamis were expected to hit the Philippines and Japan shortly.

The Philippine Seismology Agency PHIVOLCS said tsunami waves could hit the Philippines by midnight local time (1600 GMT/midnight Malaysian time) and could continue for hours.

The Japanese broadcaster NHK said tsunami waves of up to a metre high were expected to reach Japan’s western coast a little later — by 1.30am tomorrow (1630 GMT today).

The US Geographic Survey put the quake at magnitude 7.6 and a depth of 32km, and said it had struck at 10.37pm (1437 GMT). — Reuters