UTC time | 2019-04-23 05:37:51 |
---|---|
ISC event | n/a |
USGS-ANSS | ComCat |
Local date | April 23, 2019 [1] |
Local time | 1:37:51 pm (PHT) [1] |
Magnitude | 6.5 Mw (PHIVOLCS) 6.4 Mww (USGS) |
Depth | 64 km (40 mi) |
Epicenter | 11°47′N125°23′E / 11.79°N 125.38°E |
Areas affected | Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas, Western Visayas, Bicol Region, Caraga Region |
Max. intensity | PEIS VI (Very strong) MMI VI (Strong) |
Tsunami | None |
Aftershocks | 172 (6 felt) (as of April 30, 2019) [2] |
Casualties | 48 injured [2] |
The 2019 Eastern Samar Earthquake struck the islands of Visayas in the Philippines on April 23, 2019 at 1:37:51 p.m. (PST). [3] It had a moment magnitude of 6.5 [3] (Mww6.4 by USGS) [4] and a local magnitude of 6.2 [5] with a max intensity of VI based on the PHIVOLCS Earthquake Intensity Scale(PEIS). [3] The epicenter was in San Julian, Eastern Samar and the hypocenter was at a depth of 64 km(~39.76 mi). [3] As of April 30, 2019 there were 172 aftershocks ranging from magnitudes of 1.6 to 4.6. The earthquake injured 48 people and damaged about 245 homes. [2]
Eastern Samar is located near an active subduction zone, the Philippine trench, where the Philippine Sea plate subducts beneath the Sunda plate, and movement along the trench is what caused the earthquake. [6] [3]
The earthquake struck less than a day after another magnitude 6.1 earthquake in Luzon, but it was found that these earthquakes were unrelated. [7]
The Visayas Islands are located in the central part of the Philippines consisting of seven main islands that make up its land. Their topography is full of tall mountains and large plains that provide the cultivation of sugarcane and rice. Their location in the Visayas sea provides fishing opportunities for the island to obtain more food in a sustainable way. Common produce also grown here includes maize, coconuts, bananas, tobacco, and various root crops. [8]
The location of these islands is one of the most seismically active due to the subduction zones the Philippines sits on. The multiple trenches indicate the many subduction zones around the Philippines creating these large magnitude earthquakes. The Philippines itself is right next to the Philippine Sea plate that is subducting underneath the Sunda Plate on the Eastern shore of the country. [6]
Although the earthquake happened a day after an earlier earthquake struck Luzon, the state agency has stated that the Visayas earthquake is unrelated to the prior earthquake. The Visayas earthquake was determined to be caused by the movement of the Philippine Trench. [7] The movement at the trench was specifically the Philippine Sea plate subducting below the neighboring plate, releasing seismic energy. [3]
There was no tsunami because the earthquake occurred on land and deep underground. [3] Forty-eight people were injured, most of them slightly by falling objects, and slight damage was reported near the epicenter. [9] [2] The Leyte Provincial Capitol in Tacloban sustained damage which led to the provincial government abandoning the building in May 2019, with the intention of converting the building into a museum. [10]
“It was really very strong. at first it was moderate until 5 seconds it appears to be every infrastructure are shaking, including the basketball court that was beside our house, and even while running outside the house to look for safer ground. i myself can”- English translation of someone who was in Calbayog, reporting what was felt during the earthquake in their location. [11]
Intensity | Location |
---|---|
PEIS VI (Very strong) | San Julian Eastern Samar; |
PEIS V (Strong) | Tacloban City; Catbalogan City, Samar; General MacArthur, Salcedo and Guiuan, Eastern Samar; Naval, Biliran; Catarman, Northern Samar; Palo and Pastrana, Leyte; Lawaan and Girporlos, Eastern Samar |
PEIS IV (Moderately strong) | Sorsogon City; Naga City in Camarines Sur; Iloilo City; Bislig City in Surigao del Sur; San Francisco in Southern Leyte; Abuyog, Hilongos, Javier, Capoocan, Julieta, Baybay, Barogo, Jaro, McArthur, Matalum, Villaba in Leyte and Panganiban, Catanduanes |
PEIS III (Weak) | Binalbagan in Negros Occidental; Cabalian in Southern Leyte; Dimasalang in Masbate; Butuan City and Cabadbaran City in Agusan del Norte |
PEIS II (Slightly felt) | Bago City and Bacolod City in Negros Occidental. |
This earthquake had an estimated 172 aftershocks(As of April 30, 2019) that were in many different places around Samar over the next several days, 6 of which were felt. These ranged from magnitudes of 1.6 to 4.6 with slight shaking as seen from the commenters. While it was technically possible that another earthquake of a higher magnitude could have occurred at this same location, it was extremely unlikely and did not end up happening, confirming that the 6.5 Mw event was the mainshock. [2]
Aftershocks could also be felt all the way in India according to this commenter: "I was sleeping it is 1:50am in India and i was awakened by the earthquake. My neighbors ran outside and waited for sometime until the earthquake stopped." [12]
Many of the buildings near the epicenters were not built properly to withstand high magnitude earthquakes; things like tiles fell off of the ceilings and walls if they were not secured enough. [13] A total of 245 houses were damaged with one of them fully destroyed. Along with the damaged buildings a lot of power outages occurred the day of the earthquake which was then restored within 24-hours. [2]
The Manila Trench is an oceanic trench in the Pacific Ocean, located west of the islands of Luzon and Mindoro in the Philippines. The trench reaches a depth of about 5,400 metres (17,700 ft), in contrast with the average depth of the South China Sea of about 1,500 metres (4,900 ft). It is created by subduction, in which the Sunda Plate is subducting under the Philippine Mobile Belt, producing this almost N-S trending trench. The convergent boundary is terminated to the north by the Taiwan collision zone, and to the south by the Mindoro terrane. It is an area pervaded by negative gravity anomalies.
The Philippine Trench is a submarine trench to the east of the Philippines. The trench is located in the Philippine sea of the western North Pacific Ocean and continues NNW-SSE. It has a length of approximately 1,320 kilometres and a width of about 30 km (19 mi) from the center of the Philippine island of Luzon trending southeast to the northern Maluku island of Halmahera in Indonesia. At its deepest point, the trench reaches 10,540 meters.
The 1990 Luzon earthquake occurred on July 16 at 4:26 p.m. (PDT) or 3:26 p.m. (PST) on the densely populated island of Luzon in the Philippines. The shock had a surface wave magnitude of 7.8 and produced a 125 km-long ground rupture that stretched from Dingalan, Aurora to Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya. The event was a result of strike-slip movements along the Philippine Fault and the Digdig Fault within the Philippine Fault System. The earthquake's epicenter was near the town of Rizal, Nueva Ecija, northeast of Cabanatuan. An estimated 1,621 people were killed, most of the fatalities located in Central Luzon and the Cordillera region.
The Philippine Fault System is a major inter-related system of geological faults throughout the whole of the Philippine Archipelago, primarily caused by tectonic forces compressing the Philippines into what geophysicists call the Philippine Mobile Belt. Some notable Philippine faults include the Guinayangan, Masbate and Leyte faults.
An earthquake off the coast of Samar occurred on August 31, 2012, at 20:47 local time in the Philippines. The populated islands of Visayas were struck by an earthquake of magnitude Mw 7.6. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 45 km. A tsunami warning was announced within the Pacific area and was lifted after two hours. The Philippine archipelago is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, where earthquakes and volcanic activity are common.
The 2013 Bohol earthquake occurred on October 15 at 8:12:31 PST in Bohol, an island province located in Central Visayas, Philippines. The magnitude of the earthquake was recorded at Mw 7.2, with epicenter 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) S 24° W of Sagbayan, and its depth of focus was 12 kilometres (7.5 mi). It affected the whole Central Visayas region, particularly Bohol and Cebu. The earthquake was felt in the whole Visayas area and as far as Masbate island in the north and Cotabato provinces in southern Mindanao.
The 2017 Surigao earthquake occurred on February 10, 2017, at 10:03 PM (PST), with a surface wave magnitude of 6.7 off the coast of Surigao del Norte in the Philippines. According to the PHIVOLCS Earthquake Intensity Scale the earthquake was an Intensity VII (Destructive) earthquake at maximum. In the past Surigao province has been hit by a magnitude 7.2 tremor in both 1879 and 1893.
On July 6, 2017, a 6.5 magnitude earthquake hit Leyte, causing at least 4 deaths and 100 injuries. The quake also caused power interruptions in the whole of Eastern Visayas and nearby Bohol.
At 23:50 (UTC+8) on 6 February 2018, an earthquake of magnitude 6.4 on the moment magnitude scale hit Taiwan. The epicenter was on the coastline near Hualien, which was the most severely affected area, with a maximum felt intensity of VIII (Severe) on the Mercalli intensity scale. At least 17 deaths were reported, with 285 injured. The maximum foreshock was recorded on 4 February 2018, at 21:56:40. The epicenter was located at Hualien County, Taiwan, reaching a scale of ML 5.8.
On April 22, 2019, at 05:11:29 p.m. (PST), an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.1Mw struck the island of Luzon in the Philippines, leaving at least 18 dead, three missing and injuring at least 256 others. Despite the fact that the epicenter was in Zambales, most of the damage to infrastructure occurred in the neighboring province of Pampanga, which suffered damage to 29 buildings and structures.
The 2019 Batanes earthquake was a magnitude 6.0 earthquake which struck Batanes, Philippines on July 27, 2019. It was preceded by a 5.4 magnitude foreshock. Nine people were killed by the combined effects of the earthquakes.
The 2019 Cotabato earthquakes were an earthquake swarm which struck the province of Cotabato on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines in October 2019. Three of these earthquakes were above 6.0 on the moment magnitude scale with a Mercalli intensity of VIII. More than 40 people have been reported dead or missing and nearly 800 were injured as a result of these events.
At 14:11 PST on December 15, 2019, the province of Davao del Sur on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines was struck by an earthquake measuring 6.8 Mww. It had a maximum perceived intensity of VII on the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale. At least 13 people were killed and another 210 injured.
On 9 July 2019, at 8:36 PM (PST), an earthquake measuring Mw 5.6 jolted the province of North Cotabato, Davao del Sur, and other nearby provinces. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported one dead and three injured in Makilala after the earthquake, and a total of 164 families affected in Cotabato Province. Near the epicenter of the earthquake, the severity of strong ground motion was assigned VI (Strong) on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale. A total of 106 schools, 119 houses, and 14 other infrastructures were damaged by the earthquake.
On February 7, 2021, at 12:22 PM PST, an earthquake measuring Mww 6.0 struck Davao del Sur and Cotabato. The event registered a Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale (MMI) of VIII (Severe) with VII on the PHIVOLCS Earthquake Intensity Scale (PEIS).
On August 12, 2021, at 01:46:12 PST, a strong Mw 7.1 earthquake struck the island of Mindanao at a depth of 55.1 kilometers (34.2 mi). It had a maximum perceived Intensity V on the PHIVOLCS Earthquake Intensity Scale. No damage or injuries were reported but a young man was killed by the earthquake.
The 1879 Surigao earthquake occurred on June 30 at 18:38 02:55 local time on the northeastern tip of Mindanao. The earthquake with a moment magnitude (Mw ) of 7.4 struck with an epicenter just south of Lake Mainit. Extensive damage occurred but there were no reports of casualties.
On July 27, 2022, at 8:43:24 a.m. (PHT), an earthquake struck the island of Luzon in the Philippines. The earthquake had a magnitude of 7.0 Mw , with an epicenter in Abra province. Eleven people were reported dead and 615 were injured. At least 35,798 homes, schools and other buildings were damaged or destroyed, resulting in ₱1.88 billion (US$34 million) worth of damage.
On December 2, 2023, at 22:37 PST, a magnitude 7.4-7.6 earthquake occurred off the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. The shallow subduction earthquake killed at least three people and left 79 injured.