Earthquakes in Philippines through history
From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 565 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off Philippines. 81 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest on either list was an estimated magnitude 8.7 on September 21, 1897 (Mindanao, Zamboanga, Sulu, Isabela).
The last 30 days · as of
USGS recorded 14 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more in the area the map frames in the last 30 days.
The latest: magnitude 5.2 on October 21 (68 km NE of Cabatuan, Philippines). The strongest: magnitude 5.5 on October 8 (13 km SW of Burias, Philippines).
What the record holds
The deadliest was not the strongest: a magnitude 7.9 on August 16, 1976 (19 km WNW of Palimbang, Philippines), for which NOAA records 8,000 deaths. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 234 here, back to 3581 BCE. NOAA records deaths in 104 of the events here, 21,581 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 6.3 on August 5, 2026 (32 km SW of Sarangani, Philippines). NOAA’s record here begins in 3581 BCE with an eruption (Taal). It grows thinner going back: 102 of the 234 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here are from 1927 on. NOAA lists 76 tsunamis that began in or off Philippines, and one from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 9 m, on August 16, 1976. The deadliest, on August 16, 1976, killed 3,820 people here by NOAA’s runup records. NOAA lists 50 significant eruptions of 10 volcanoes in or off Philippines. The largest was Taal in 3581 BCE, at 6 on the volcanic explosivity index. The deadliest was Mayon in 1875, which killed 1,500 people by NOAA’s count.
The events
- August 5, 2026Earthquake · M 6.332 km SW of Sarangani, PhilippinesUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- July 16, 1990Earthquake · M 7.74 km E of Macapsing, Philippines · 2,412 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- August 16, 1976Earthquake · M 7.919 km WNW of Palimbang, Philippines · 8,000 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- August 16, 1976Tsunami · 9 m hereMoro Gulf · 3,820 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- April 14, 1924Earthquake · M 8.11924 Mindanao, Philippines EarthquakeUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- August 15, 1918Earthquake · M 8.31918 Mindanao, Philippines Earthquake · 52 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- October 18, 1897Earthquake · M 8.1 (est.)Northern SamarNOAA NCEI
- September 21, 1897Earthquake · M 8.7 (est.)Mindanao, Zamboanga, Sulu, Isabela · 13 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- September 20, 1897Earthquake · M 8.6 (est.)Nw Mindanao: DapitanNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- 1875EruptionMayon · 1,500 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- 3581 BCEEruption · VEI 6TaalNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
Good to know
- An event counts for Philippines when it began inside its borders, or at sea within 100 km of its coast (so one can count for two neighbours), or further out, up to 300 km, where Philippines is the nearest country.
- USGS counts here start at magnitude 6: the catalogue’s smaller quakes thin out going back, where few instruments listened.
- NOAA lists significant events only: earthquakes that killed, did about $1 million of damage, reached magnitude 7.5 or intensity X, or raised a tsunami, and eruptions and tsunamis by like measures. Magnitudes before 1900 are its estimates from written accounts.
- Deaths are NOAA’s total for each event, wherever people died, its tsunami and fires included. A tsunami counts the dead its runup records give for this place: NOAA’s total for a tsunami includes its source quake’s.
- A tsunami from elsewhere counts where one of its runups killed or rose a metre or more.
- The map frames the box around Philippines, its neighbours’ quakes included, so its count runs higher than this page’s.
- Counted to October 19, 2026, as is the map. The last 30 days ask USGS again.
How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Earthquakes, live, The world through history