MAJOR EARTHQUAKE ZONES IN THE PHILIPPINES

The Philippine Archipelago lies between two major

tectonic plates, the Philippine Sea Plate and the
Eurasian Plate. The Philippine Sea Plate is moving
towards the Philippine Archipelago at the rate of
about 7 centimeter per year. The Eurasian Plate is
being subducted along the western side of Luzon
and Mindoro at the rate of 3 centimeters per year
except on Mindoro and northwest of Zamboanga
where collision is taking place. At the intersection
of these two plates is found the Phillipine Fault
Zone which decouples the northwestward motion
of the Pacific Plate with southeastward motion of the Eurasian Plate. Movements along other active
faults are responsible for the present-day high seismicity of the Philippine Archipelago.

The identified earthquake generators in and along the Philippines Archipelago are following:

a. Philippine Trench
b. East Luzon Trough
c. Manila Trench
d. Negros Trench
e. Sulu Trench
f. Cotabato Trench
g. Philippine Fault Zone and its many branches
h. Many active faults (e.g. Valley Fault System)

The Philippine Trench

Zone where the Philippines Sea Plate (PSP) subducts beneath the Philippine Mobile Belt (PMB)
between offshore Bicol Peninsula and southeast Mindanao, convergence between the PSP and
PMB occurs at the rate of 8 centimeter per year.
East Luzon Trough

Zone where the PSP subducts beneath the PMB offshore of northeast Luzon.
The Manila Trench

Zone where the South China Sea Plate (SCSP) subducts beneath the PMB between Taiwan and
Mindoro.

Negros Trench
Zone where the Sulu Sea Plate (SSP) subducts beneath the PMB offshore of Panay and Negros
Island.
Sulu Trench
Zone where the Sulu Sea Plate (SSP) subducts beneath the PMB offshore of Zamboanga Peninsula
and Sulu Archipelago.
Cotabato Trench

Zone where the Celebes Sea Plate subducts beneath the PMB offshore of the Cotabato and
Saranggani Provinces.
Trench - is an excavation in the ground caused by man's digging, river erosion, earth movement and other
environmental factors. A trench can be part of the fault.

Fault - is a fracture of huge rocks caused by the earth movement or tectonic forces. A fault is defined as an
active fault when it has moved within the last 10,000 years.

Bases of Movement:
1. Historical and contemporary seismicity ( Earthquake activity)
2. Fault slip (displacement) based on displaced rock or soil units of known age
3. Displaced landforms (active fault geomorphology)

ACTIVE FAULTS IN THE PHILIPPINES

Fault Lines Affected Areas
1. Central Philippine Fault Entire Ilocos Norte, Aurora, Quezon, Masbate,
Eastern Leyte, Southern Leyte, Agusan Del
Norte, Agusan Del Sur, Davao Del Norte.
2. Marikina Valley Fault Montalban, San Mateo, Marikina, Pasig, Taguig,
Muntinlupa, San Pedro,Binan, Carmona, Santa
Rosa, Calamba, Tagaytay, Oriental Mindoro.
3. Western Philippine Fault Luzon Sea, Mindoro Strait, Panay Gulf, Sulu Sea.
4. Eastern Philippine Fault Philippine Sea
5. Southern of Mindanao Fault Moro Gulf, Celebes Sea

Marikina Valley Fault System

also known as the Valley Fault System (VFS)
a dominantly dextral strike-slip
most geologically active fault line in the Philippines
It extends from Dingalan, Aurora in the north and runs through the provinces of Nueva Ecija,
Bulacan and Rizal, and the Metro Manila cities of Quezon, Marikina, Pasig, Makati,
Paranaque, Taguig and Muntinlupa, and the provinces of Cavite and Laguna that ends in
Canlubang
contains two major segments
 East Valley Fault (EVF)
 West Valley Fault (WVF)
East Valley Fault (EVF)

Moves in an oblique dextral motion within 10 kilometers

Traverses the municipalities of Rodriguez and San Mateo in Rizal Province
This fault can generate an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 that may result to a very
destructive ground shaking

West Valley Fault (WVF)

Approximately 100-km long and transects portions of Quezon City, Marikina, Pasig, Makati,
Taguig and Muntinlupa and the province of Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna and Cavite)
Moves in a dominantly dextral strike-slip motion
Capable of producing large scale earthquakes on its active phases with a magnitude of 7.2 or
higher

Philippine Fault Zone (PFZ)

1,200-km-long
A major tectonic feature that transects the whole Philippine archipelago from northwestern
Luzon to southeastern Mindanao
Arc-parallel, left-lateral strike slip fault
Divided into several segments and has been the source of large-magnitude earthquakes in
recent years, such as the 1973 Ragay Gulf earthquake (M 7.0), 1990 Luzon earthquake (Mw
7.7), and 2003 Masbate earthquake (Ms 6.2)
It comprises the Guinyangan Fault, Masbate Fault, and Central Luzon Fault.
This is found to be the site and sources of fault creep activity, slow slip event and great
earthquakes in the archipelago.

Guinyangan Fault

 the northern locked portion with recurrence interval of as short as 65 years

Masbate fault
 Central part with large and medium earthquakes accompanied by unusually large
ground rupture
North and the South Central Leyte Fault
 characterized by a seismic creep and medium-sized events, usually with clusters of
foreshocks
Masbate fault and Central Leyte Fault
 correlates well with the behavior of known slow events and creep activity
 Map showing the extent of the PFZ (bold
solid line) transecting the Philippine archipelago from
northeastern Luzon to southeastern Mindanao. Also shown
are the major tectonic features of the region. Solid
hachured lines are trenches while dashed lines are other
active faults in adjoining islands. The rectangular area
defines the study area.

Map showing the historical earthquakes

along the central portion of the PFZ
(modified from PHIVOLCS, 2000). Star
indicates the epicenter of the historical
events. Offshore location of the PFZ and
trenches are indicated by dashed line
and hachured lines, respectively.

The central portion of the

PFZ corresponding to the earthquake
activity on the right (b) on temporal plot.
The fault portion with reported creep
(Catane et al., 2000; Duquesnoy et al.,
1994) and the location of the 2003
eventon Masbate (Besana et al., 2003)
are indicated by light grey and dark grey,
respectively. Vertical lines indicate the
possible extent of ground rupture using
the magnitude estimate from the Wells
and Coppersmith (1994) empirical
relations. Solid gray circle indicates the
moderate-sized (>M5–6) events along the
MF, mostly with significant ground rupture.
 PHIVOLCS LATEST EARTHQUAKE INFORMATION
Date - Time
Latitude Longitude Depth
(Philippine Mag Location
(ºN) (ºE) (km)
Time)
December
12 December 2018 - 024 km S 11° W of
09.40 123.92 022 2.2
06:46 PM Alburquerque (Bohol)
12 December 2018 - 014 km N 78° E of Hinoba-
09.58 122.62 017 1.8
04:44 PM an (Negros Oriental)
12 December 2018 - 134 km S 67° W of San
14.48 118.94 044 3.6
02:57 PM Antonio (Zambales)
12 December 2018 - 026 km N 75° W of
14.14 120.39 026 2.4
01:25 PM Nasugbu (Batangas)
016 km N 38° E of
12 December 2018 -
07.43 126.21 004 2.1 Maragusan (San Mariano)
01:17 PM
(Compostela Valley)
12 December 2018 - 021 km S 42° W of
13.69 120.51 108 4.1
11:37 AM Calatagan (Batangas)
041 km S 41° W of Santa
12 December 2018 -
09.05 122.61 024 2.0 Catalina (Negros
08:38 AM
Occidental)
011 km N 40° W of
12 December 2018 -
13.81 123.63 031 1.5 Garchitorena (Camarines
07:59 AM
Sur)
12 December 2018 - 021 km N 34° E of Lubang
14.01 120.23 060 2.2
07:54 AM (Occidental Mindoro)
12 December 2018 - 006 km N 70° W of San
14.97 120.04 024 2.4
04:42 AM Antonio (Zambales)
12 December 2018 - 051 km N 22° W of Claveria
19.03 120.90 001 2.0
04:20 AM (Cagayan)
005 km S 60° W of
12 December 2018 -
10.33 125.21 031 2.3 Hinundayan (Southern
03:38 AM
Leyte)
016 km S 81° W of
12 December 2018 -
09.95 122.48 033 2.2 Cauayan (Negros
02:24 AM
Occidental)
12 December 2018 - 008 km S 56° E of Porac
15.04 120.60 029 1.5
02:17 AM (Pampanga)
11 December 2018 - 018 km S 57° W of Paluan
13.33 120.33 013 2.5
11:05 PM (Occidental Mindoro)
11 December 2018 - 020 km N 14° E of Paluan
13.59 120.51 031 2.4
10:08 PM (Occidental Mindoro)
11 December 2018 - 027 km S 13° W of San
13.09 122.62 023 2.0
06:23 PM Andres (Quezon)
11 December 2018 - 017 km N 46° W of Socorro
09.73 125.85 122 3.1
05:06 PM (Surigao Del Norte)
11 December 2018 - 025 km S 57° E of Calayan
19.16 121.66 024 3.1
05:03 PM (Cagayan)
121 km S 40° E of
11 December 2018 -
04.60 126.17 094 3.7 Sarangani (Davao
03:07 PM
Occidental)
11 December 2018 - 058 km S 54° E of Governor
06.34 126.50 026 2.9
12:17 PM Generoso (Davao Oriental)
035 km S 05° W of Garcia
11 December 2018 -
09.30 124.27 008 2.3 Hernandez (Bohol)
06:45 AM
 008 km S 31° E of Cabalian
11 December 2018 -
10.20 125.21 034 2.0 (Southern Leyte)
06:23 AM

029 km N 58° E of General

11 December 2018 -
09.92 126.38 013 4.2 Luna (Surigao Del Norte)
03:33 AM

11 December 2018 - 035 km N 90° W of Candon

17.19 120.12 023 2.0
02:43 AM City (Ilocos Sur)
11 December 2018 - 025 km S 03° E of San
13.10 122.67 015 3.7
02:14 AM Andres (Quezon)
031 km N 22° E of
11 December 2018 -
12.60 121.26 033 2.8 Magsaysay (Occidental
01:38 AM
Mindoro)
11 December 2018 - 026 km S 05° W of San
13.09 122.66 001 2.8
12:43 AM Andres (Quezon)
10 December 2018 - 018 km S 66° W of Silay
10.74 122.82 027 2.1
10:25 PM City (Negros Occidental)
10 December 2018 - 011 km N 80° E of Santiago
09.28 125.65 029 2.6
09:02 PM (Agusan Del Norte)
028 km S 68° W of
10 December 2018 -
06.48 123.82 002 2.9 Kalamansig (Sultan
08:18 PM
Kudarat)
10 December 2018 - 025 km N 87° W of San
17.34 120.21 022 3.0
01:22 PM Esteban (Ilocos Sur)
10 December 2018 - 002 km S 78° W of
15.22 120.56 130 2.2
01:13 PM Mabalacat (Pampanga)
10 December 2018 - 024 km N 40° W of
14.25 120.48 113 2.6
12:15 PM Nasugbu (Batangas)
10 December 2018 - 275 km S 46° E of South
03.46 122.26 621 4.7
11:00 AM Ubian (Tawi-tawi)
10 December 2018 - 015 km N 04° E of Burgos
10.16 126.08 021 2.4
08:34 AM (Surigao Del Norte)
10 December 2018 - 019 km N 84° E of Lingig
08.06 126.58 078 2.2
07:31 AM (Surigao Del Sur)
10 December 2018 - 009 km N 28° E of Santa
06.64 125.51 094 2.8
06:10 AM Cruz (Davao Del Sur)
10 December 2018 - 016 km N 65° E of Salvador
07.97 123.98 007 2.7
04:35 AM (Lanao Del Norte)
10 December 2018 - 038 km S 49° W of Subic
14.66 119.97 040 2.3
03:17 AM (Zambales)