An earthquake of at least magnitude 7.5 struck Mindanao in the southern Philippines late on Saturday, triggering evacuation orders for some areas and southwestern Japanese coasts because of warnings of tsunami waves of a metre (3 feet) or more.

The Philippine Seismology Agency Phivolcs said the waves could hit the Philippines by midnight (1600 GMT) and continue for hours.

The U.S. Tsunami Warning System said there could be waves of up to 3 metres above the tide level along some Philippine coasts.