The Manila Times
MANILA, Philippines — The government’s seismology agency pointed to a trench in southwestern Mindanao as likely behind the deadly 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck off the island on Monday, saying hard-hit Sarangani and its neighboring provinces were prone to temblors as they are in one of the country’s seismically active regions. Teresito Bacolcol, director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), told The Manila Times that Sarangani’s coast faced the Cotabato Trench, a highly active fault system capable of generating massive earthquakes and tsunamis. There are also local faults in proximity, with some potentially concealed by recent deposits, he said, adding that the trench and other active faults can create minor to major temblors. “Based on the location of the earthquake, focal mechanism and aftershock distribution, the earthquake may be attributed to subduction along the Cotabato Trench,” Bacolcol said. Monday’s quake struck at 7:37 a.m., and its offshore epicenter was 32 kilometers west of Sarangani’s Maasim municipality. The temblor was felt as far as the coastal municipalities of Abuyog and Dulagin Leyte. As of 11 a.m., Phivolcs recorded 138 aftershocks, with magnitudes ranging from 1.3 to 6.7. Aftershocks are likely to persist for at least several days, and some may be felt in nearby provinces, the agency said. Phivolcs said at least seven significant earthquakes, with their magnitudes ranging from 5.7 to 8.0 shook Sarangani and nearby provinces between 1917 and Nov. 17, 2023, based on its data. It said the quake also generated tsunami waves measuring approximately 1 meter along the coasts of Maasim and Kiamba town in Sarangani, and Kalamansig municipality in Sultan Kudarat province; and waves measuring less than a meter in Mati and Zamboanga cities.
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