The quake raised the ground – by two meters

TT

Published 13.23

 

The quake caused major shifts in the ground. Image from the city of General Santos on June 9. Photo: Jam Sta Rosa/AFP/TT

A powerful earthquake that killed more than 60 people in the Philippines also caused a two-meter land rise that damaged the marine ecosystem, according to the country's Department of Environment.

The 7.8-magnitude quake off Mindanao on Monday created a coastal rise that moved the shoreline by as much as 200 meters in some places, drying up parts of the seabed, including coral reefs and seaweed that were previously underwater.

Images released by the Department of Environment show large sections of dried-up coral reefs and masses of dead fish and other marine life that have washed up.

"The vulnerable coral reefs and seagrasses have begun to die, as have algae, reef fish, eels and mussels," the Ministry of the Environment said in a statement.