M7.8 earthquake 3 km W of Buga, Philippines

Saturday, January 24, 1948, 17:46:43 UTC · 10.714°N, 122.235°E

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck 3 km W of Buga, Philippines on Saturday, January 24, 1948, 17:46:43 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.

Magnitude: 7.8; Major · mw
Depth: 15 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 0; Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking: VIII; Severe (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert: None; Not issued
Tsunami: No flag; USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 200 km aftershock search areaColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

7.6 megatons of TNT

That is about 502 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 15,849 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

35 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Caribbean and South American plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.

Depth: shallow

15 km

Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.

Did You Feel It?

Where it was felt

No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.

I felt it — report to USGS ↗

USGS PAGER estimate

Who was exposed to shaking

USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.

After the main event

Aftershocks within 200 km

USGS lists 3 M2.5+ earthquakes within 200 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.8 on January 26, 1948. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 30 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 22 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 96 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1948M7.8
Panay, Iloilo City, Antique
24 Jan 1948 · 0 km away · intensity IX
74 deaths$4 million damagetsunami
1925M6.8
W. Luzon Island, Philippines
5 May 1925 · 165 km away · intensity IX
17 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1922M6.3
Cebu Island, Mactan Island
27 Feb 1922 · 212 km away · intensity V
5 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1897M7.9
Masbate Island
13 May 1897 · 240 km away · intensity VIII
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1869M7.0
Masbate Island
16 Aug 1869 · 242 km away · intensity IX
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1743
Leyte
Sep 1743 · 232 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers