Magnitude6.0

Reviewed by USGSPhilippines50y ago

M6.0 earthquake 49 km SSE of Malim, Philippines

Monday, November 22, 1976, 04:22:25 UTC · 7.029°N, 123.579°E

A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck 49 km SSE of Malim, Philippines on Monday, November 22, 1976, 04:22:25 UTC, at a depth of 60.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.0 on September 29, 1976.

Magnitude
6.0
Strong · mb
Depth
60 km
Shallow
Felt reports
0
Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking
IV
Light (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert
None
Not issued
Tsunami
No flag
USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

15 kilotons of TNT

That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 32 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

404 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Philippine Sea and Sunda plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.

Depth: shallow

60 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 100 km

USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the 30 days after this event.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 167 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 25 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 8,655 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1976M8.0

    Mindanao: S

    16 Aug 1976 · 100 km away · intensity VI

    8,000 deaths$134 million damagetsunami

  2. 1955M7.4

    Mindanao: Lanao,Ozamiz,Cotabato

    31 Mar 1955 · 84 km away · intensity VIII

    465 deaths$5 million damagetsunami

  3. 1928M7.4

    Cotabato,N Coast Of Illana Bay

    19 Dec 1928 · 82 km away · intensity VII

    97 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  4. 1918M8.3

    Mindanao: Cotabato

    15 Aug 1918 · 172 km away · intensity X

    52 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  5. 1925M6.8

    W. Luzon Island, Philippines

    5 May 1925 · 270 km away · intensity IX

    17 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  6. 1897M8.7

    Mindanao, Zamboanga, Sulu, Isabela

    21 Sep 1897 · 209 km away · intensity IX

    13 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

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

Nearby trackers

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