LindolPH
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LindolPH

The Philippines sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire — wrapped by trenches and threaded with active faults. This is an interactive look at where the ground moves, how often, and how hard. Magnitudes follow PHIVOLCS where curated; the map runs on open data.

13,872
M4.5+ events since 1960 (USGS)
46
Major M7.0+ events
10,409
Shallow (<70 km) — most destructive
11
Curated notable disasters
Rendering six decades of seismicity…
Connecting to live feed…

Depth

Shallow <70 km
Intermediate 70–300
Deep 300+

Magnitude

M4.5M8+

Faults & live

West Valley Fault
Other active faults
Live (past 7 days)

Filters

Depth band

Loading historical data…

Time-lapse

1960

Watch six decades of Philippine earthquakes unfold.

02 · The data story

Six decades, 13,872 earthquakes — what the numbers say

Every recorded M4.5+ earthquake in the Philippines since 1960. Read the right charts and a few counter-intuitive truths emerge — chiefly that depth, not magnitude alone, decides how deadly a quake is.

Why depth is destiny

Each dot is a notable quake — magnitude up the side, depth across. Bubble size and warmth grow with the death toll. The deadliest events cluster shallow-left, not high-magnitude.

Cebu 2025 (M6.9, ~5 km) killed 79. Hinatuan 2023 was far bigger (M7.6) but ~32 km deep — and killed 3.

The rarity of the big ones

Count by magnitude on a log scale — a near-straight fall-off (Gutenberg–Richter).

~9,690 M4.5–4.9 events vs only 46 at M7+ — each step up is roughly 10× rarer.

Quakes per year

Yearly M4.5+ counts. Early decades undercount — global detection improved over time.

Peak year: 2023 (678 events). The upward drift is mostly better detection, not more earthquakes.

What actually kills

Curated-event deaths by primary cause. The shaking is often not the deadliest part.

  • Tsunami 6,010
  • Ground shaking 1,933
  • Landslide 102
  • Mixed / secondary 81

Tsunami (Moro Gulf 1976) and landslides (Negros, Cotabato) drive the toll — the secondary hazard is frequently the real killer.

Most quakes are shallow

All 13,872 events by depth band — and shallow is the dangerous band.

  • Shallow <70 km 75%
  • Intermediate 70–300 km 22%
  • Deep 300+ km 3%

75% of PH quakes are shallow (<70 km) — close to the surface, where they do the most damage.

03 · The Big One

The West Valley Fault & Metro Manila

The West Valley Fault — about 100 km of right-lateral strike-slip fault — runs straight through the most densely populated region in the country. PHIVOLCS models a potential ~M7.2 movement, the scenario popularly known as "The Big One." It is the crimson line on the map above.

~34,000 deaths
~114,000 injured
~168,000 buildings heavily damaged (~13%)
Intensity VIII shaking across Metro Manila

Official baseline: the Metro Manila Earthquake Impact Reduction Study (MMEIRS), JICA / PHIVOLCS / MMDA, 2004, plus secondary liquefaction, fire, and landslide effects. A later World Bank study sketches an upper-range scenario of roughly ~48,000 deaths and ~$48 billion in losses — cited here only as an upper bound, not the central estimate.

Where it runs

The fault crosses Bulacan, Rizal, several Metro Manila cities, Cavite, and Laguna — passing under homes, schools, and expressways.

  • Bulacan
  • Rizal
  • Quezon City
  • Marikina
  • Pasig
  • Taguig
  • Muntinlupa
  • Cavite
  • Laguna

When — honestly

The fault last moved in a major way in 1658, roughly 367 years ago. Trenching studies put its recurrence interval at about 400–600 years.

2058 is a reference point, not a prediction. In PHIVOLCS' own words, a movement "may happen within our lifetime" — Director Renato Solidum / OIC Teresito Bacolcol have repeatedly stressed that no one can predict the date. We deliberately do not call the fault "overdue."

Myth-bust A large earthquake elsewhere in the Philippines does not "trigger" or "release pressure" on the West Valley Fault — they belong to different fault systems hundreds of kilometres apart. Per PHIVOLCS, recent Mindanao or Cebu events tell us nothing about the timing of the Big One.

04 · Risk lookup

What's the seismic context near you?

Enter a Philippine city — or use your location — to see the nearest active fault and how far away it is, how much historical activity surrounds you, and your distance to the West Valley Fault. For awareness, not an official hazard assessment.

Quick picks: · · ·

Loading fault & historical data…

05 · Notable quakes

The earthquakes that changed the Philippines

A curated, verified set of the most consequential events — most recent first. Magnitudes lead with PHIVOLCS; where USGS diverges, its value is shown in parentheses.

  1. M7.8

    Sarangani (Mindanao)

    Depth
    57 km
    Deaths
    81
    Primary cause
    Mixed / secondary

    Strongest Philippine earthquake since the 1976 Moro Gulf event; on the Cotabato Trench. Uplifted ~100 km of coastline by up to 2 m.

  2. M7.4 (USGS M6.7)

    Davao Oriental (doublet)

    Depth
    20 km
    Deaths
    10
    Primary cause
    Tsunami

    Twin earthquakes off Davao Oriental with a minor tsunami; roughly 1.5 million people affected.

    Twin events: M7.4 followed by M6.7.

  3. M6.9

    Bogo, Cebu

    Depth
    5 km
    Deaths
    79
    Primary cause
    Ground shaking

    Attributed to the newly identified Bogo Bay Fault; its very shallow depth made it deadly in northern Cebu.

  4. M7.4 (USGS M7.6)

    Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur

    Depth
    32 km
    Deaths
    3
    Primary cause
    Ground shaking

    Near the Philippine Trench; its depth kept the toll low despite the high magnitude. A minor tsunami was recorded.

    PHIVOLCS M7.4; USGS Mww 7.6.

  5. M7.0 (USGS M7.3)

    Abra (NW Luzon)

    Depth
    15 km
    Deaths
    11
    Primary cause
    Landslide

    First M7 on or near the Philippine Fault since 1990; landslides and damage across Abra and the Ilocos region.

    M7.0; PHIVOLCS initial estimate was Ms 7.3.

  6. M6.5

    Cotabato sequence

    Depth
    8 km
    Deaths
    ~40+
    Primary cause
    Landslide

    An earthquake swarm in Cotabato; massive landslides struck Makilala and Tulunan.

    Swarm of strong shocks over weeks: M6.3 (Oct 16), M6.6 (Oct 29), M6.5 (Oct 31), M6.1 (Dec 15). Date shown is the M6.5 representative shock.

  7. M6.7

    Surigao del Norte

    Depth
    10 km
    Deaths
    8
    Primary cause
    Ground shaking

    Shallow event near Surigao City; 522 houses destroyed.

  8. M7.2

    Bohol

    Depth
    12 km
    Deaths
    222
    Primary cause
    Ground shaking

    Ruptured the previously unmapped North Bohol Fault; centuries-old heritage churches were destroyed.

  9. M6.7

    Negros Oriental

    Depth
    11 km
    Deaths
    51
    Primary cause
    Landslide

    Shallow event triggering deadly landslides in Guihulngan and La Libertad.

  10. M7.7

    Luzon (Baguio)

    Depth
    25 km
    Deaths
    1,621
    Primary cause
    Ground shaking

    Produced a ~125 km ground rupture along the Philippine Fault; the Hyatt Terraces hotel in Baguio collapsed.

  11. M8.0 (USGS M7.9)

    Moro Gulf (Mindanao)

    Depth
    20 km
    Deaths
    5,000–8,000
    Primary cause
    Tsunami

    Deadliest tsunami in Philippine history; roughly 85% of deaths were caused by the tsunami, not the shaking.

    M8.0; USGS surface-wave Ms 7.9.

06 · Preparedness

Duck, cover, and hold on

Awareness only matters if it changes what you do. Here is the official protocol from PHIVOLCS and NDRRMC — practise it before you need it.

The protocol: Duck, Cover, and Hold On

  1. 1
    Duck / Drop — drop low onto your hands and knees before the shaking knocks you down.
  2. 2
    Cover — get under a sturdy table or desk; protect your head and neck. No table? Cover up against an interior wall, away from windows and anything that can fall.
  3. 3
    Hold On — hold your shelter and stay put until the shaking stops. Don't run outside mid-shake.

Then evacuate calmly via the stairs (never lifts) and gather at your designated open-space meeting point.

The 72-hour Go-Bag

Enough to be self-sufficient for at least three days:

  • Water — ~1 gallon / person / day
  • Non-perishable food
  • First-aid kit + personal meds
  • Flashlight + spare batteries
  • Battery / hand-crank radio
  • Whistle (to signal for help)
  • Dust mask
  • Copies of IDs & documents
  • Cash in small bills
  • Sturdy closed shoes & gloves
  • Hygiene items
  • Fully-charged phone + power bank

Your family plan

  • Meeting point — agree on a safe open space near home and a backup further away.
  • Out-of-area contact — one person everyone checks in with.
  • Evacuation route — know two ways out of your building and neighbourhood.
  • Utility shut-off — learn where the gas, water, and electrical mains are and how to switch them off.

Join the Shake Drill

The Nationwide Simultaneous Earthquake Drill (NSED) — the "shake drill" — runs several times a year and rehearses exactly the M7.2 West Valley Fault scenario. Schools, offices, and barangays practise Duck-Cover-Hold and evacuation together.

Participate when your workplace or barangay runs one — muscle memory is what keeps you safe when the ground actually moves.

Official guidance: PHIVOLCS · NDRRMC