Philippines Earthquakes

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Understanding the Philippines Earthquake Map

The Philippines is one of the world’s most seismically active countries. This page shows the latest available earthquakes of magnitude 1.5 and above. The earthquake list, interactive map, and statistics update when the page is loaded or refreshed.

Each colored circle marks an earthquake epicentre. Select a circle to view its magnitude, reported location, UTC, and depth. The filter buttons let you compare earthquakes from the last hour, 24 hours, seven days or 30 days.

philippines earthquakes (map loads with JavaScript)

The map covers the Philippine archipelago and nearby offshore seismic zones. Earthquakes close to international boundaries may be included or excluded according to their coordinates and the location description supplied by the earthquake catalogue.

Why Earthquakes Occur Across the Philippines

The Philippines occupies one of the most complicated earthquake regions in the western Pacific. It is often described as lying between the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian Plate, but the geology is more intricate than two rigid plates meeting along one clean boundary. Much of the archipelago forms part of the Philippine Mobile Belt, a broad, actively deforming zone made up of crustal blocks, volcanic arcs, trenches and major faults.

Subduction occurs on both sides of much of the country. Oceanic crust descends beneath the eastern side of the archipelago along the Philippine Trench and East Luzon Trough, while subduction also takes place along western and southern trenches such as the Manila, Negros, Sulu and Cotabato trenches. Movement within the archipelago is partly accommodated by the Philippine Fault Zone and numerous regional faults.

This arrangement helps explain why earthquakes are found beneath the islands, beside the coast and far offshore. It also produces a mixture of shallow crustal earthquakes, deeper earthquakes within descending plates and powerful offshore events capable of generating tsunamis.

The Main Philippine Earthquake Zones

Philippine Trench and East Luzon Trough

The Philippine Trench runs along the eastern side of Mindanao and continues northward towards Samar and the East Luzon Trough. Here, the Philippine Sea Plate is being forced generally westward beneath the Philippine Mobile Belt. This boundary produces frequent offshore earthquakes at a wide range of depths.

Eastern Mindanao, Samar, Leyte and the waters east of Luzon can therefore experience both shallow earthquakes near the plate boundary and deeper events within the descending slab. A deep earthquake may be felt across a large area, although depth generally reduces the severity of shaking directly above its source.

Manila Trench

The Manila Trench lies west of Luzon in the South China Sea. Subduction along this boundary is connected with earthquakes offshore of western Luzon and with the chain of volcanoes extending through parts of Luzon. Because it is an offshore subduction zone, the Manila Trench is also considered in Philippine tsunami-hazard planning.

Negros, Sulu and Cotabato Trenches

The tectonics become particularly complicated around the central and southern Philippines. The Negros Trench lies west of the central islands, while the Sulu and Cotabato trenches influence seismic activity around the Sulu Sea and southern Mindanao. These are separate structures rather than one continuous western trench.

The Cotabato Trench is especially important to tsunami history. Movement associated with this zone generated the destructive 1976 Moro Gulf earthquake and tsunami, demonstrating that damaging Philippine tsunamis are not limited to the country’s Pacific-facing coast.

The Philippine Fault Zone

The Philippine Fault Zone mapped by PHIVOLCS extends for approximately 1,200 kilometres through the archipelago. It is a major left-lateral strike-slip system with numerous connected segments extending from northwestern Luzon towards southeastern Mindanao.

Movement is not evenly distributed along the entire fault at the same time. Individual sections beneath Luzon, Masbate, Leyte, Surigao and Mindanao can rupture separately. Because much of the fault crosses land, earthquakes on it can be shallow and capable of producing intense local shaking, surface rupture and landslides.

Where Philippine Earthquakes Are Concentrated

• Eastern Mindanao and the waters east of Samar and Leyte: Frequent activity is associated with the Philippine Trench and nearby faults.
• Northern and central Luzon: Earthquakes can originate along the Philippine Fault, other active faults and the subduction systems on either side of Luzon.
• Masbate, Leyte and Surigao: These areas lie close to important segments of the Philippine Fault Zone.
• Bohol, Cebu, Negros and neighbouring islands: Earthquakes can occur on regional faults that are separate from the main Philippine Fault.
• Southern Mindanao and the Moro Gulf: Seismicity is influenced by the Cotabato Trench, the Philippine Fault and several active faults within Mindanao.
• Palawan: Palawan is generally less seismically active than the Philippine Mobile Belt, but it is not completely free from earthquake shaking or offshore hazards.

Earthquake Risk Around Metro Manila

Metro Manila is not located directly on the Philippine Fault Zone, but this does not make it earthquake-free. The Greater Metro Manila area is crossed by the Valley Fault System, which includes the West Valley Fault and East Valley Fault. The longer West Valley Fault passes through or close to parts of Bulacan, Rizal, Metro Manila, Cavite and Laguna.

Distance from a mapped fault is only one part of earthquake risk. Ground conditions, building design, construction quality, slope stability and local soil can greatly affect the severity of damage. Soft sediments can amplify shaking, while loose water-saturated ground may be vulnerable to liquefaction.

Residents can use the official PHIVOLCS FaultFinder to check the distance between a location and the nearest mapped active fault. This tool identifies fault proximity, but it should not be treated as a complete property-level risk assessment.

Why Earthquake Depth Matters

Many damaging Philippine earthquakes are shallow because they begin within the crust or on faults crossing the islands. Their seismic energy has less distance to travel before reaching the surface, allowing strong shaking to develop near the rupture.

Subduction zones also create intermediate and deep earthquakes as a descending plate sinks beneath the archipelago. These events may be felt across several provinces because their seismic waves spread over a broad area. A deep earthquake can still be powerful, but it will not normally produce the same concentrated surface effects as an equally large shallow event directly beneath a community.

Depth alone does not determine the outcome. Magnitude, distance, fault movement, local geology and the vulnerability of buildings all help determine how strongly an earthquake is felt and how much damage it causes.

Earthquakes That Changed the Philippines

Philippine earthquake disasters have come from offshore trenches, faults crossing the islands and previously unrecognized structures beneath populated areas. The events below were selected because of their size, consequences or importance to earthquake and tsunami preparedness. The PHIVOLCS record of destructive earthquakes contains additional events from different parts of the archipelago.

1968 Casiguran earthquake: The magnitude 7.3 earthquake originated near Casiguran in Luzon but caused severe damage more than 200 kilometres away in Manila. The collapse of the six-storey Ruby Tower killed 268 people and became a lasting example of how vulnerable construction and soft ground can intensify an urban disaster. PHIVOLCS provides a detailed record of the Casiguran earthquake and its damage.Magnitude and the PHIVOLCS Intensity Scale

2026 offshore Sarangani earthquake: On June 8, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off Sarangani in southern Mindanao. It caused building collapses, landslides, utility failures and a tsunami of approximately one metre along parts of the nearby coast. Dozens of people were killed, hundreds were injured and more than 45,000 were displaced. An Associated Press report on the Sarangani earthquake also documented how regular disaster drills helped schools and communities respond.

2025 Davao Oriental earthquakes: A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck offshore of Manay, Davao Oriental, on October 10 and was followed by another major earthquake in the same offshore region. The sequence caused deaths, damaged thousands of homes and triggered tsunami warnings for coastlines in the southern Philippines and neighbouring countries. PHIVOLCS explains the first event and its tectonic source in its Davao Oriental earthquake primer.

2025 northern Cebu earthquake: The shallow magnitude 6.9 earthquake of September 30 caused destructive shaking around Bogo City and neighbouring communities. Buildings, roads and historic churches were damaged, and dozens of people were killed, making it the country’s deadliest earthquake in more than a decade. Satellite observations later revealed surface movement along the Bogo Bay Fault, shown in a PHIVOLCS image of the earthquake rupture.

2023 offshore Surigao del Sur earthquakes: A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck east of Mindanao on December 2, followed by a magnitude 6.8 event on December 4. Tsunami warnings were issued, strong shaking was experienced across eastern Mindanao and measurable ground displacement was recorded near the rupture. A later PHIVOLCS study of the Surigao del Sur earthquakes measured horizontal movements approaching 30 centimetres at some monitoring sites.

2022 northwestern Luzon earthquake: The magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck near Tayum in Abra on July 27 and produced destructive shaking across northwestern Luzon. Landslides blocked roads, buildings were damaged and historic structures in Abra, Ilocos Sur and Vigan were affected. PHIVOLCS provides the earthquake parameters in its northwestern Luzon earthquake primer, while UNESCO documents the subsequent work to protect Vigan’s damaged heritage buildings.

2019 Cotabato earthquake sequence: Four earthquakes greater than magnitude 6 struck Cotabato and Davao del Sur between October and December. Repeated shallow shaking damaged buildings already weakened by earlier events and triggered landslides, rockfalls and ground cracks around Tulunan, Makilala, Kidapawan and neighbouring communities. A peer-reviewed study of the Cotabato–Davao del Sur sequence examines the environmental effects produced by the earthquakes.

2013 Bohol earthquake: The magnitude 7.2 earthquake was caused by reverse faulting on a structure that had not previously been recognized as a major surface-rupturing earthquake source. It created a prominent fault scarp, uplifted the ground by several metres in places and damaged homes, roads, bridges and centuries-old churches. A study published in the journal Tectonics maps the rupture and explains why the North Bohol Fault is scientifically important.

1994 Mindoro earthquake and tsunami: The magnitude 7.1 earthquake produced surface rupture across northern Mindoro and generated a local tsunami that reached nearby communities within minutes. PHIVOLCS recorded a maximum run-up of approximately 8.5 metres, and dozens of people died. The event remains an important example of the Philippines’ locally generated tsunami threat, described in the agency’s introduction to Philippine tsunamis.

1990 Luzon earthquake: The magnitude 7.8 earthquake ruptured approximately 125 kilometres of the Digdig segment of the Philippine Fault. More than 1,200 people were killed, and severe damage occurred in Baguio, Cabanatuan, Dagupan and other parts of Luzon. The detailed PHIVOLCS Luzon earthquake account documents the surface rupture, landslides, liquefaction and widespread infrastructure damage.

1976 Moro Gulf earthquake and tsunami: The magnitude 8.1 earthquake generated a devastating tsunami shortly after midnight on August 17. More than 700 kilometres of coastline were affected, and thousands of people died around Mindanao, the Sulu Archipelago and nearby islands. The PHIVOLCS account of the Moro Gulf disaster explains why the tsunami caused most of the loss of life.

Magnitude measures the overall size of an earthquake at its source. An earthquake has one magnitude value, although agencies may publish slightly different figures because they use different datasets, calculation methods or magnitude scales.

Intensity describes the strength and effects of shaking at a particular location. The Philippines uses the PHIVOLCS Earthquake Intensity Scale, commonly shortened to PEIS. It runs from Intensity I, described as scarcely perceptible, to Intensity X, described as completely devastating.

The same earthquake can therefore produce several reported intensities. Communities close to a shallow rupture or built on ground that amplifies shaking may report a much higher intensity than places farther away, even though both experienced the same earthquake.

Philippines Tsunami Risk

The Philippines is exposed to tsunamis from local offshore faults and trenches as well as large earthquakes elsewhere in the Pacific. The Philippine, Manila, Negros, Sulu and Cotabato trenches are among the sources considered in national tsunami-hazard planning.

Not every offshore earthquake produces a tsunami. A tsunami generally requires substantial displacement of the seafloor, most often during a large shallow earthquake with vertical fault movement. Earthquake magnitude alone cannot confirm whether a damaging tsunami has formed.

For nearby sources, waves may arrive before an official warning can reach every community. PHIVOLCS teaches the natural warning signs as “Shake, Drop and Roar”: strong ground shaking, a sudden or unusual change in sea level, or a roaring sound coming from the sea. Anyone on or near the coast who notices these signs should move inland or to higher ground without waiting at the shoreline.

Official tsunami advisories and warnings are issued through the PHIVOLCS tsunami-monitoring system. Local evacuation routes and instructions from Philippine authorities should take priority during an emergency.

How Earthquakes Are Monitored

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology operates seismic monitoring stations throughout the country. Their instruments record ground movement and help scientists determine an earthquake’s location, depth and magnitude. PHIVOLCS then publishes earthquake bulletins and collects reports of felt intensity from affected communities.

Monitoring can detect an earthquake quickly after it begins, but it cannot predict the exact time, place and magnitude of a future earthquake. Hazard maps, fault studies, building standards, public drills and household preparation remain essential because damaging earthquakes can occur without a reliable short-term warning.

PHIVOLCS also provides earthquake hazard maps covering threats such as ground rupture, strong shaking, liquefaction, earthquake-induced landslides and tsunamis. The relevant hazard is different from place to place, so a community near a steep slope may face different secondary dangers from a low-lying coastal settlement or a city built on soft sediment.

Preparing for an Earthquake in the Philippines

Before an earthquake, identify safe places beneath sturdy furniture and away from windows, secure tall or heavy objects, and learn whether your home, school or workplace lies near a mapped fault, unstable slope, liquefaction zone or tsunami evacuation area. Households should also prepare essential water, food, medication, lighting and communication supplies. Our earthquake preparedness guide explains what to keep in an emergency kit.

During strong shaking, drop to your hands and knees, take cover beneath sturdy furniture where possible, and hold on until the movement stops. Do not run downstairs or towards an exit while objects are falling. If you are outside, move away from buildings, walls, utility lines and other overhead hazards.

After the shaking, expect aftershocks and avoid visibly damaged buildings. Check for injuries, fire and damaged utilities if it is safe to do so. In a coastal area, strong or prolonged shaking should also be treated as a possible natural tsunami warning. More practical guidance is available on our earthquake safety page.

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