At least two people died as structures were damaged by a powerful earthquake that shook the eastern seaboards off Davao Oriental on Friday morning.

In a televised interview, Davao Oriental Governor Nelson Dayanghirang confirmed that two people reportedly died after being hit by fallen debris during the magnitude 7.4 quake.

"We have recorded two casualties... Yes, they were hit by the parts of the house structures that collapsed, these are private residences," he said.

Dayanghirang also reported a landslide in the province while cracks and damage were also observed in some buildings and bridges during their ongoing assessment.

"We have already evacuated the patients in all of our hospitals, provincial and district hospitals and we have an ongoing assessment in other structures. There are landslides (incidents), there are cracks in bridges while buildings also sustained damage, especially Manay District Hospital. I am not sure if it is totally damaged because I will still have to go there to conduct an inspection," he said.

"So far there is no reported building that totally collapsed but as I said it seems that the Manay District Hospital can no longer be used again because of the cracks...," he added.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) reported that all airports under its jurisdiction remain operational as initial assessments indicate that there was no major damage to airport facilities following the earthquake.

CAAP is inspecting Dipolog Airport, to ensure structural integrity and passenger safety after minor cracks were observed in its logistics building.

It also reported that two commercial flights bound for Davao were diverted following the tremor. The affected flights include "GAP2813 (Manila?Davao) which was diverted to Mactan-Cebu International Airport and CEB963 (Manila?Davao) which was diverted to General Santos International Airport. Robina Asido/DMS