Historical Earthquake Archive

Major destructive earthquakes in Philippine history. Casualty and damage figures are best-available published numbers and may differ across sources — see references per event.

SearchMin M0.0Tsunami only11 / 11 events

2023-12-02

2023 Hinatuan earthquake

M 7.6· 32 kmTsunami

Major intraplate event offshore Surigao del Sur. Tsunami advisory issued; small waves recorded.

Casualties: 3
Source fault: Philippine Trench

Refs: PHIVOLCS · USGS

2022-07-27

2022 Abra earthquake

M 7.0· 17 km

Widespread damage across Ilocos and Cordillera. Heritage churches in Vigan and Ilocos Sur damaged.

Casualties: 11
Injured: 615
Source fault: Philippine Fault Zone

Refs: PHIVOLCS · USGS

2019-10-29

2019 Cotabato earthquake sequence

M 6.6· 14 km

Sequence of M6.3, M6.6 and M6.5 events on previously unknown blind faults in the Cotabato region (Tulunan / Makilala).

Casualties: 24
Injured: 563
Source fault: Philippine Fault Zone

Refs: PHIVOLCS · USGS

2017-07-06

2017 Leyte earthquake

M 6.5· 6 km

Shallow strike-slip event on the Leyte segment of the Philippine Fault Zone.

Casualties: 4
Injured: 100
Source fault: Philippine Fault Zone

Refs: PHIVOLCS · USGS

2013-10-15

2013 Bohol earthquake

M 7.2· 12 km

Ruptured the previously unmapped North Bohol Fault. Destroyed centuries-old churches in Bohol and Cebu.

Casualties: 222
Injured: 976
Damages: ~$52M
Source fault: North Bohol Fault

Refs: PHIVOLCS QRT 2013 · Lagmay et al. 2014

2012-08-31

2012 Philippine Trench earthquake (offshore Samar)

M 7.6· 28 kmTsunami

Deep intraslab event off Samar that generated a small regional tsunami.

Casualties: 1
Injured: 2
Source fault: Philippine Trench

Refs: USGS · PHIVOLCS

2012-02-06

2012 Negros Oriental earthquake

M 6.7· 11 km

Triggered widespread landslides in Negros Oriental, particularly in Guihulngan and La Libertad.

Casualties: 51
Injured: 112
Source fault: Negros Trench

Refs: PHIVOLCS · USGS

1994-11-15

1994 Mindoro earthquake & tsunami

M 7.1· 32 kmTsunami

Local tsunami in Verde Island Passage with waves up to 7 m in Baco. Surface rupture mapped along the Aglubang River fault.

Casualties: 78
Injured: 430
Source fault: Lubang Fault

Refs: Imamura et al. 1995 · Nakata et al. 1996

1990-07-16

1990 Luzon earthquake (Digdig segment, PFZ)

M 7.8· 25 km

Surface rupture of >120 km along the Digdig and Philippine Fault Zone segments. Severe damage in Baguio, Cabanatuan, Dagupan.

Casualties: 1,621
Injured: 3,000
Damages: ~$370M
Source fault: Philippine Fault Zone

Refs: Nakata et al. 1996 · PHIVOLCS Quick Response Team

1976-08-17

1976 Moro Gulf earthquake & tsunami

M 7.9· 60 kmTsunami

Tsunami waves up to 5 m struck Mindanao and Sulu Archipelago coasts. One of the deadliest natural disasters in modern Philippine history.

Casualties: 5,000
Injured: 8,000
Source fault: Cotabato Trench

Refs: Lander et al. 2003 · PHIVOLCS Destructive Earthquakes Catalog · USGS

1645-11-30

1645 Luzon earthquake

M 7.5

Destroyed much of colonial Manila; the largest historical earthquake to strike the colonial capital.

Casualties: 600
Source fault: Valley Fault System (West & East Valley Faults)

Refs: Bautista & Oike, 2000 · PHIVOLCS Destructive Earthquakes Catalog