Quake alters coastlines in several towns in Sarangani

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/13 June 2026)– For residents of Glan and Jose Abad Santos, the word ‘uplift’ just found a negative connotation.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) announced through a Facebook post, June 12, at 9:12 p.m. that the coast in several towns in Sarangani has experienced a ‘coastal uplift,’ a geological phenomenon in which portions of the seafloor rose following Monday’s Magnitude 7.8 earthquake.

A ‘coastal uplift’ also leads to the altering of a coastline, according to PHIVOLCS. According to the agency, the shoreline has receded by around 200 meters.

This means that the seafloor and beach area rose by about two meters, resulting in the ocean water retreating by around 200 meters.

Corals previously underwater are exposed after the 7.8 Magnitude earthquake last 8 June 2026 caused a ‘coastal uplift’ in Barangay Pangyan, Glan, Sarangani. Photo from DOST-PHIVOLCS

Two hundred meters is the length of around seven barangay basketball courts.

Various posts online showed fishermen unable to dock their boats as corals replace what used to be navigable water.

Protected Area Superintendent (PASu) Cirilo A. Lagnason, Jr. of the Sarangani Bay Protected Seascape (SBPS), in a Facebook Messenger chat with MindaNews, said their team is still looking for other affected areas since the uplift did not just happen in Glan.

The agency said the phenomenon was observed in some southern barangays in Glan, Sarangani and Jose Abad Santos, Davao Occidental.

Lagnason said a similar phenomenon happened in Loon-Maribojoc coastal areas in Bohol during the October 2013 Magnitude 7.2 earthquake near the municipality of Sagbayan (or Carmen), Bohol.

The quake pushed parts of the coast up and changed the topography of that shore.

In nearby Barangay Baliton, youth volunteers led efforts to retrieve donations from non-government organizations who were willing to send aid.

Al-Rasheed Musa, 19, said he and three other volunteers headed to the Poblacion to pick up donations coming from at least four non-governmental organizations.

Musa posted a cry for help online, which was only published 20 hours after he first tried. Signal was scarce, and food and other supplies all the more so.

While aid has arrived in bits, from both government and non-government sources, Musa said the aid is quickly depleted.

“We are now facing a crisis that no one wished to face. The quake left many families with no roof on their head and staying in tents and upland area for more than 72hrs now,” he said.

“I am asking for those who are facilitating donation drive to put Baliton, Margus, Pangyan, Burias and Barangays onwards on your list,” he said.

According to Musa, isolated areas in Glan such as Baliton, Burias, Margus, Pangyan and Barangays onwards face the same struggle; no electricity, no signal and no relief goods.

The first aid that reached Baliton, he said, was a community vlogger who brought a truck of water and relief goods.

“Balitonians are grateful for this, but sadly, this is not enough for every family that needed the same goods,” he said.

“I can only watch them and feel their pain. Others are sleeping outside their damaged houses while many are still on the upland areas.”

“If you need someone to contact to in these areas, here is my number, 09536192602 – TM. I can help you reach these Barangays. I am from Barangay Baliton, and just like other places in Glan and the entirety of Sarangani, these Barangays also need help as help has yet arrived,“ he said. (Yas D. Ocampo/MindaNews)