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1879 Surigao earthquake
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Earthquake in the Philippines
March 2023
March 2023
1879 Surigao earthquake yes 1879-06-29 1879 06 30 02:55 PST 7.4 w y 9.8 N 125.5 E type:event_region:PH inline,titleMaria Leonila P. Bautista Kazuo Oike Estimation of the magnitudes and epicenters of Philippine historical earthquakes Tectonophysics 2000 317 1–2 137–169 10.1016/S0040-1951(99)00272-3 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0040195199002723 Elsevier 2000Tectp.317..137B subscription Philippine Strike-slip XSignificant Earthquake Information https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazel/view/hazards/earthquake/event-more-info/2271 ngdc.noaa.gov NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information December 20, 2021
The 1879 Surigao earthquake occurred on June 30 at 02:55 local time on the northeastern tip of Mindanao. The earthquake with a moment magnitude (w) of 7.4 struck with an epicenter just south of Lake Mainit. Extensive damage occurred but there were no reports of casualties.
Tectonic setting
The Philippine Islands is situated in a highly deformed zone between the convergent boundary of the Eurasian and Philippine Sea plates, known as the Philippine Mobile Belt. Along the east, the Philippine Sea Plate subducts beneath the islands at the Philippine and East Luzon trenches. Major subduction complexes are also active along the southwestern coast of Mindanao at the Cotabato Trench and along the Manila Trench of the west Luzon.
Running through the Philippine Mobile Belt is the Philippine Fault System; a 1,200-kilometer-long, highly segmented strike-slip fault system. This left-lateral system of faults runs from southeastern Mindanao to northwestern Luzon. Strike-slip deformation within the Philippine Mobile Belt occurs as a result of oblique subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate, where the Philippine Fault System accommodates much of it.Mario A. Aurelio Shear partitioning in the Philippines: Constraints from Philippine Fault and global positioning system data Island Arc 2000 9 4 584–597 10.1111/j.1440-1738.2000.00304.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1440-1738.2000.00304.x Wiley Online Library 2000IsArc...9..584A 129633652 subscription The fault is seismically active and ruptures periodically in large earthquakes. Among the largest are the 1990 Luzon and 1973 Ragay Gulf earthquakes.
Earthquake
The earthquake ruptured approximately 100 km us of the Philippine Fault System along the Surigao segment. The Surigao segment strikes in a slightly north-northeast orientation. Left-lateral stream offsets, and 1 m ft mid -high us scarps are evident that the fault is active. By studying the surface rupture length, a moment magnitude of 7.4 was estimated.Jeffrey S. Perez Hiroyuki Tsutsumi Historical and Paleoseismic Evidence of the 1879 Mw 7.4 Surigao Earthquake, Philippines 11th Asian Seismological Commission General Assembly 2016 https://aees.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/52-Perez-et-al.pdf Melbourne, Australia The reassessed magnitude is significantly larger than the previous value of 6.9 by Bautista and Okie in 2000.Jeffrey S. Perez Hiroyuki Tsutsumi Tectonic geomorphology and paleoseismology of the Surigao segment of the Philippine fault in northeastern Mindanao Island, Philippines Tectonophysics 2017 699 244–257 10.1016/j.tecto.2017.02.001 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040195117300471 Elsevier 2017Tectp.699..244P subscription
It resulted in extreme shaking within the meizoseismal area, later assigned X (Extreme) on the modified Mercalli intensity scale. Using aerial photographs, a fault scarp was identified running the length from the present-day San Francisco, Surigao del Norte to Lake Mainit. The fault scarp was associated with the 1879 surface rupture. A maximum slip of 5 m us occurred at the surface. Further paleoseismology studies and trenching also identified fault scarps south of the lake. At least three other surface rupturing earthquakes occurred in the same segment during the last 1,300 years.
Impact
Nearly all concrete infrastructures in Surigao, San Francisco, and Butuan were demolished. Ground failure, liquefaction, and subsidence occurred. Strong aftershocks occurred immediately after the mainshock. Spanish geologist Jose Centeno, appointed by the Governor-General of the Philippines measured up to 50 cm of subsidence of the ground after the earthquake. He reported many homes and trees were severely damaged; only three stone structures remained standing. Of the three, two buildings; one housing the governor and the other an administration office, suffered cracks on the walls and upper floors. A church constructed of thick coral limestone and reinforced with timber was seriously damaged. Wood, nipa, and bamboo-constructed homes were destroyed. In San Francisco, 26 of the 40 homes collapsed. The remaining homes that did not collapse were tilted over and most were eventually demolished for new constructions. Two bridges were also destroyed.William C. Repetti Catalogue of Philippine earthquakes, 1589-1899* Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 1946 36 3 133–322 10.1785/BSSA0360030133 1946BuSSA..36..133R https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/ssa/bssa/article-abstract/36/3/133/115463/Catalogue-of-Philippine-earthquakes-1589-1899 subscription
See also
List of earthquakes in the Philippines
2017 Surigao earthquake
References
Category:June 1879
Category:Earthquakes in the Philippines
Category:1879 in the Spanish East Indies
Category:1879 earthquakes
Category:1879 in the Spanish Empire
Category:History of Surigao del Norte
Category:History of Dinagat Islands
Category:1870s disasters in Asia
Category:19th-century disasters in the Philippines