U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Seismicity of the Earth 1900–2012

Philippine Sea Plate and Vicinity

Compiled by Gregory M. Smoczyk,1 Gavin P. Hayes,1 Michael W. Hamburger,2 Harley M. Benz,1 Antonio Villaseñor,3 and Kevin P. Furlong4

1U.S. Geological Survey

2Department of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind., USA

3Institute of Earth Sciences, CSIC, Barcelona, Spain

4Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, State College, Penn., USA

2013

400

Ryuku Islands

200

M

A

N I L

A

T

R

E

N

C

H

300

100

60

500

1935

1999

1990

1923

60

YAP TRENCH

100

West Caroline Basin

100

IZU-BONIN ISLAND ARC

300

100

1995

1944

1946

MEDIAN TECTONIC LINE

1932

Philippine Basin

PALAU TRENCH

200

60

60

200

60

F

F'

E'

E

D

D'

C'

C

G'

G

A

A'

Victoria

Quezon City

Jinan

Busan

Taipei

Hangzhou

Nagoya

Tokyo

Zhengzhou

Incheon

T'aichung

Qingdao

Kyoto

T'ainan

Osaka

Seoul

Fukuoka

Jeonju

Hiroshima

Kowloon

Guangzhou

Naha

Manila

Kaoshsiung

Shimonoseki

Gwangju

Hefei

Yokohama

Samarinda

Balikpapan

Davao

Shanghai

Changsha

Gifu

Daegu

Chungju

Fuzhou

Nagasaki

Macau

Kitakyushu

Kawasaki

Nanchang

Makassar

Kobe

Nanjing

Daejeon

B'

B

1918

1948

1996

1935

1924

1965

1911

1976

1935

1932

 Philippine Sea

Sulu Sea

Sea of

Japan

Java Sea

South

China

Sea

Bohol

Sea

East

China

Sea

Celebes

Sea

Bismarck Sea

Molucca

Sea

Banda

Sea

Yellow

Sea

-2°

132°

-2°

26°

6°

120°

30°

132°

18°

136°

144°

-6°

136°

10°

124°

34°

140°

18°

-6°

144°

10°

124°

22°

112°

148°

14°

128°

140°

22°

2°

116°

148°

156°

14°

128°

26°

160°

2°

6°

120° 152°

SCALE 1:10,000,000 

200

SIBUYAN SEA FAULT

T

u

k

KILOMETERS

a

O

1,000

w

800

COTABATO

a

0 600

o

h

n

400

Albers Equal Area Conic Projection

Digital map database and cartography by Greg Smoczyk

Manuscript approved for publication November 12, 2013

r

g

i

C O T A B A T O

NORTH SULAWESI TRENCH

PALU FAULT

SANGHIE TRENCH

RYUKYU TRENCH

NEW GUINEA TRENCH

IZU-OGASAWARA TRENCH

PHILIPPINE TRENCH

SORONG FAULT

T R E N C H

FAULT

MARIANA

T

R

E

N

C

H

NANKAI TRENCH

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

FEDERATED STATES

OF MICRONESIA

CHINA

TAIWAN

JAPAN

SOUTH

KOREA

INDONESIA

PALAU

PHILIPPINES

MALAYSIA

I

N

D

O

N

E S I A

PHILIPPINE

FAULT

Borneo

Halmahera

West Papua

New Ireland Island

Northern Mariana Islands

Irian Jaya New Guinea

Birds Head

Peninsula

Sulawesi

Palau Islands

H

ALM

AHERA

TRENCH

PACIFIC P L A T E

PACIFIC P L A T E

EURASIA P L A T E

PHILIPPINE SEA P L A T E

SUNDA

P L A T E

MAP EXPLANATION

Active volcanoes

Depth of focus

600

500

Plate boundaries

400

Divergent

0–69 km

300

Transform

Convergent

200

100

Mean slab depth

70–299 km

Inferred

8.0-8.2 Magnitude

earthquake location

7.5-8.2 Magnitude

earthquake location

60 km

Subduction

Large Active

Fault

300–700 km

8.0-8.1

7.5-7.6

6.5-7.0

7.8-7.9

7.6-7.7

8.1-8.2

7.0-7.5

7.9-8.0

7.7-7.8

Magnitude classes

P

a

c

i f i

c

O

c

e

a

n

Honshu

Kyushu

Shikoku

K u y u s h

u - P

a

l

a

u

R i d

g

e

D a i t o R i d g e

Okinawa

Miyako Jima

Iriomote Jima

Luzon

Mindoro

Ishigaki Jima

Tokuno shima

Amami Ō shima

For region to the north see:

USGS Open File Report 2010 1083D

Japan and Vicinity

http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2010/1083/d

For region to the south see:

USGS Open File Report 2010 1083H

New Guinea and Vicinity

http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2010/1083/h

East Luzon

Trough

Negros Trench

Yap Islands

1935

1911

.

.

DATA SOURCES

The earthquake locations shown on the main map (left) and on the depth profiles (lower left) 

are taken from the global 1900–2007 Centennial catalog (Engdahl and Villaseñor, 2002), a 

catalog of high-quality depth determinations for the period 1964–2002 (Engdahl, personal 

commun., 2003), and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Earthquake Information 

Center (NEIC) for the period 2008‒2010. Major earthquakes (7.5‒8.2) are labeled with the 

year of occurrence, whereas earthquakes (8.0‒8.2) are labeled with the year of occurrence 

and also denoted by a white outline (Tarr and others, 2010).

The Seismic Hazard and Relative Plate Motion panel displays the generalized seismic hazard 

of the region (Giardini and others, 1999) and representative relative plate motion vectors 

using the MORVEL model (DeMets and others, 2010).

Pre-instrumental seismicity for the Philippine Sea was obtained from the NOAA National 

Geophysical Data Center (2010) database of significant earthquakes; locations are 

Geophysical Data Center (2010) database of significant earthquakes. Locations are 

approximate, based on macro-seismic reports and field investigations. We selected 

earthquakes with associated reports of moderate to major damage, 10 or more deaths, and 

estimated magnitude of 7.5 or greater (if known), Modified Mercalli Intensity at least X, or 

tsunami generation.

Base map data sources include GEBCO (2008), Volcanoes of the World dataset (Siebert and 

Simkin, 2002), plate boundaries (Bird, 2003), and geographic information from Digital Chart 

of the World (1992), and ESRI (2002). Slab contours are from Hayes and others (2012). 

Additional information on plate boundaries in the Philippine region was derived from 

Galgana and others (2007) and Galgana (2008).

Open-File Report 2010–1083-M

REFERENCES

Allen, T.I., Marano, K., Earle, P.S., and Wald, D.J., 2009, PAGER-CAT—A composite 

earthquake catalog for calibrating global fatality models: Seismological Research 

Letters, v. 80, no. 1, p. 50‒56.

Barrier, E.,P. Huchon and M. Aurelio, 1991, Philippine fault—A key for Philippine 

kinematics: Geology, v. 19, no. 1, p. 32‒35.

Bird, Peter, 2003, An updated digital model of plate boundaries: Geochemistry Geophysics 

Geosystems, v. 4, no. 3, 52 p.

Cardwell, R.K., Isaacks, B.L., and Karig, D.E., 1980, The spatial distribution of 

.

earthquakes, focal mechanism solutions, and subducted lithosphere in the Philippine .

and northeastern Indonesian Islands, in Hayes, D.E., ed., The Tectonic and Geologic 

Evolution of Southeast Asian Seas and Islands, Geophysical. Monograph Series, v. 23, .

p. 1–35, American Geophysical Union (AGU), Washington, D.C., 

doi:10.1029/GM023p0001. .

DeMets, Charles, Gordon, R.G., and Argus, D.F., 2010, Geologically current plate motions: 

Geophysical Journal International, v. 181, no. 1, p. 1‒80, doi: 10.1111/j.1365- .

246X.2009.04491.x.

Digital Chart of the World,1992: accessed Mar. 9, 1996 

.

http://earthinfo.nga.mil/publications/specs/printed/89009/89009_DCW.pdf.

Engdahl, E.R., and Villaseñor, Antonio, 2002, Global seismicity 1900–1999, in Lee, 

W.H.K., Kanamori, Hiroo, Jennings, P.C., and Kisslinger, Carl, eds., International .

Handbook of Earthquake and Engineering Seismology, v. 81(A), chap. 41, p. 1–26. .

Esri, 2002, ESRI Data and Maps: Redlands, Calif., Environmental Systems research 

Institute (Esri).

Galgana, Gerald, 2008, Geodetic Investigations of Active Crustal Deformation in the 

Philippine Plate Boundary Zone and the Intraplate Region of the Central United States: 

Bloomington, Ind., Indiana University, Ph.D. dissertation. .

Galgana, Gerald, Hamburger, M.W., McCaffrey, Robert, Corpuz, Ernesto, and Chen, Qizhi, 

.

2007, Analysis of crustal deformation in Luzon, Philippines, using geodetic 

observations and focal mechanisms: Tectonophysics, 432 (2007), 63‒87.

GEBCO, 2008, The GEBCO_08_Grid, ver. 20091120: GEBCO. Accessed Jan. 8, 2010 at 

.

http://www.gebco.net/. .

Giardini, Dominico, Grünthal, Gottfried, Shedlock, K.M., Zhang, Peizhen, and Global 

Seismic Hazards Program, 1999, Global Seismic Hazards Map: Global Seismic .

Hazards Map Program (GSHAP). Accessed Jan. 9, 2007 at .

http://seismo.ethz.ch/GSHAP.

Hamburger, M.W., Cardwell, R.K., and Isacks, B.L., 1983, Seismotectonics of the northern 

Philippine island arc, in Hayes, D.E., ed., The tectonic and geologic evolution of 

southeast Asian seas and islands—Part 2: Geophysical. Monograph. Series, v. 27, p. .

1–22, American Geophysical Union (AGU), Washington, D.C., .

doi:10.1029/GM027p0001.

Hayes, G.P., Wald, D.J., and Johnson R L., 2012, A three-dimensional model of global 

.

subduction zone geometries: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 117, B01302, .

doi:10.1029/2011JB008524. .

Karig, D.E., Anderson, R.N., and Bibee, L.D., 1978, Characteristics of back arc spreading 

in the Mariana Trough: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 83(B3), doi: .

10.1029/0JGREA0000830000B3001213000001. issn: 0148-0227. .

Klaus, Adam, Taylor, Brian, Moore, G.F., Murakami, Fumitoshi, Okamura, Yukinobu, 

1992, Back-arc rifting in the Izu-Bonin Island Arc—Structural evolution of Hachijo .

and Aoga Shima Rifts: Island Arc, v. 1, issue 1, p. 16–31. .

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 2010, National Geophysical 

Data Center (NGDC): National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Accessed on .

Mar. 21, 2010 at http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazards. .

Scholz, C.H., and Campos, J., 1995, On the mechanism of seismic decoupling and back arc 

spreading at subduction zones: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 100, p. .

22103–22115, issue B11.

Siebert, Lee, and Simkin, Thomas, 2002, Volcanoes of the world—An illustrated catalog of 

Holocene volcanoes and their eruptions: Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism .

Program Digital Information series, GVP-3. Accessed Jan. 9, 2007 at 

http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/. .

Tarr, A.C., Villaseñor, Antonio, Furlong, K.P., Rhea, Susan, and Benz, H.M., 2010, 

.

Seismicity of the Earth 1900–2007: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations .

Map 3064, scale 1:25,000,000. Available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/sim/3064/. Yasuhiro,Yoshida, and Katsuyuki, Abe, 1992, Source mechanism of the Luzon, Philippines 

.

Earthquake of July 16, 1990: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 19, no. 6, p. 545–548, .

doi:10.1029/91GL02467.

1854

1891

1703

1668

1707

1604

1897

1897

1627

1889 7.5 - 8.0

> 8.0

Magnitude

M = 7.5, tsunami, or deaths

PRE-INSTRUMENTAL SEISMICITY 1500–1899

0 1,000 2,000

KILOMETERS

FIGURE EXPLANATION

Peak ground acceleration

Relative plate motion

Plate names

Plate boundaries

0−0.2 m/s2

11.0−19.9 mm/yr

20.0−39.9

40.0−59.9

60.0−79.9

80.0 +

PAC:PHI

PHI:EUR

SUN:PHI

PHI:SUN

Subduction

Others

0.2−0.4

0.4−0.8

0.8−1.6

1.6−3.2

3.2−6.4

6.4−9.8

23

50

96

107

EURASIA 

PLATE

SUNDA 

PLATE

JAPAN

SOUTH

KOREA

PACIFIC 

PLATE CHINA

PHILIPPINE SEA 

PLATE

PACIFIC 

PLATE

INDONESIA

PHILIPPINES

TAIWAN

FEDERATED STATES

OF MICRONESIA

10

38

46

61

71

50

78

96

Tokyo

Shanghai

Seoul

Kobe

Kobe

Guangzhou

Wuhan Chongqing

Daegu

Zhengzhou

Nanchang

Xi'an

Manila

Taipei

Jinan Qingdao

30°

120° 140° 160°

0°

20°

110° 130° 150°

10°

98

1,000 1,500 2,000

KILOMETERS

0 500

Seismic Hazard and Relative Plate Motion

30

23

100

103

107

TECTONIC SUMMARY

The Philippine Sea plate is bordered by the larger Pacific and Eurasia plates, and by the 

smaller Sunda plate. The Philippine Sea plate is unusual in that its borders are nearly all 

zones of plate convergence. The Pacific plate is subducted into the mantle, south of Japan, 

beneath the Izu-Bonin and Mariana Island arcs, which extend more than 3,000 km along the 

eastern margin of the Philippine Sea plate. This subduction zone is characterized by rapid 

plate convergence and high-level seismicity extending to depths of over 600 km. In spite of 

this extensive zone of plate convergence, the plate interface has been associated with few 

great (M > 8.0) “megathrust” earthquakes. This low seismic energy release is thought to 

result from weak coupling along the plate interface (Scholz and Campos, 1995). This 

convergent plate margin is also associated with unusual zones of back-arc extension (along 

with resulting seismic activity) that decouple the volcanic island arcs from the remainder of 

the Philippine Sea plate (Karig and others, 1978; Klaus and others, 1992).

South of the Mariana arc, the Pacific plate is subducted beneath the Yap Islands along the 

Yap trench. Similarly, the northwestern margin of the Philippine Sea plate is subducting 

beneath the Eurasia plate along a convergent zone, extending from southern Honshu (north 

of the map area) to the northeastern coast of Taiwan, manifested by the Ryukyu Islands and 

the Nansei-Shoto extension; the Okinawa Trough. At Taiwan, the plate boundary is 

characterized by a zone of arc-continent collision; whereby the northern end of the Luzon 

island arc is colliding with the buoyant crust of the Eurasia continental margin offshore 

China.

Along its western margin, the Philippine Sea plate is associated with a zone of oblique 

convergence with the Sunda plate. This highly active convergent plate boundary extends 

along both sides the Philippine Islands, from Luzon in the north to Sulawesi in the south. The 

tectonic setting of the Philippines is unusual in several respects: it is characterized by 

opposite-facing subduction systems on its east and west sides; the archipelago is cut by a 

major transform fault, the Philippine Fault; and the arc complex itself is marked by 

volcanism, faulting, and high seismic activity. Subduction of the Philippine Sea plate occurs 

at the eastern margin of the archipelago along the Philippine Trench and its northern 

extension, the East Luzon Trough. The East Luzon Trough is thought to be an unusual 

example of a subduction zone in the process of formation, as the Philippine Trench system 

gradually extends northward (Hamburger and others, 1983). On the west side of Luzon, the 

Sunda plate subducts eastward along a series of trenches, including the Manila Trench in the 

north, the smaller and less well-developed Negros Trench in the central Philippines, and the 

Sulu and Cotabato trenches in the south (Cardwell and others, 1980). At its northern and 

southern terminations, subduction at the Manila Trench is interrupted by arc-continent 

collision between the northern Philippine Island arc and the Eurasian continental margin 

between the Sulu-Borneo Block (Sunda plate) and Luzon at the island of Mindoro. The 

Philippine Fault, which extends over 1,200 km within the Philippine arc, is seismically 

active. The fault has been associated with major historical earthquakes, including the 

destructive M7.6 Luzon earthquake of 1990 (Yoshida and Abe, 1992). Several other active 

intra-arc fault systems are associated with moderate-to-high seismic activity, including the 

Cotabato Fault and the Verde Passage-Sibuyan Sea Fault (Galgana and others, 2007).

Relative plate motion near the Philippines (about 80 mm/yr) is oblique to the plate boundary 

along the two plate margins of central Luzon, where it is partitioned into orthogonal plate 

convergence in the subduction zones and nearly pure translational motion along the 

Philippine Fault (Barrier and others, 1991). Profiles B and C reveal evidence of opposing 

inclined seismic zones at intermediate depths (roughly 70‒300 km), and complex tectonics at 

the surface along the Philippine Fault.

Several relevant tectonic elements, plate boundaries, and active volcanoes, provide a context 

for the seismicity presented on the main map. The plate boundaries are well constrained 

along the axis of the trenches and more diffuse or speculative in the South China Sea and 

Lesser Sunda Islands. The active volcanic arcs (Siebert and Simkin, 2002) follow the Izu, 

Volcano, Mariana, and Ryukyu island chains, and the main Philippine Islands parallel to the 

Manila, Negros, Cotabato, and Philippine trenches.

Seismic activity related to the motions of the Philippine Sea plate (Allen and others, 2009) 

has produced seven great (M>8.0) earthquakes and 250 large (M>7) events. Among the most 

destructive events were the 1923 Kanto earthquake, the 1948 Fukui and the 1995 Kobe 

(Japan) earthquakes (99,000, 5,100, and 6,400 casualties, respectively), the 1935 and the 

1999 Chi-Chi (Taiwan) earthquakes (3,300 and 2,500 casualties, respectively), and the 1976 

M7.6 Moro Gulf and 1990 M7.6 Luzon (Philippines) earthquakes (7,100 and 2,400 

casualties, respectively). Some events are too small to show on the map. There have also 

been several tsunami-generating events in the region, including the Moro Gulf earthquake, 

whose tsunami resulted in more than 5,000 deaths.

PROFILE A

 -200 100

 -100

 -300

 -200

 -400 0

 -300

 100

 -100

 -400

 0

A A'

PROFILE D

 -600

 -500 -100

 -200

 -600 100

 -300

 -200

 100

 0

 -400

 -300

 0

 -500

 -400

 -100

D D'

PROFILE E

 -300 -200 -100 0 100

 -600

 -500

 -400

 -300

 -200

 -100

 0

E E'

PROFILE F

 -100 0

 -700

 -600

 -300

 -500

 -200

 -400

 -300

 -200

 -100

 0

F F'

X'

depth in kilometers is indicated in the Y

surface are drawn on the map and labeled to

Quaternary Volcanoes

X

trench axis is indicated in the X direction,

70 - 299 km

6.5 - 6.9

Depth of Focus

7.7

Locations of the profile intersection with the

4 - 5.9

7.5

the map. Distance in kilometers from the

8.2

are constructed from the mapped data.

8.0

Distance (km)

layers, earthquake depths or magnitude, are

Length of the profile graphic is the same as in

Profiles of earthquake and volcano locations

See Explanation for color key. Not all earth

300 - 700 km

7.8

DEPTH PROFILE EXPLANATION

extent of earthquakes included in the profile.

0 - 69 km

Lower Mantle

6 - 6.4

7.6

Crust

Depth (km)

Magnitude Classes

7 - 7.4

direction. There is no vertical exaggeration.

Transition Zone

Air

visible on every profile.

coincide with the profile label. Box defines

8.1

Upper Mantle

Earth Structure

7.9

PROFILE X

 -500 -400 -300 -200 -100 0

 -800

 -700

 -600

 -500

 -400

 -300

 -200

 -100

 0

 PROFILE G

 -600 -500 -400 -300 -200 -100 0 100

 -600

 -500

 -400

 -300

 -200

 -100

 0

G G'

Publishing support provided by: 

Denver Publishing Service Center

Manuscript approved for publication November 12, 2013 

Any use of trade, product or firm names is for descriptive 

purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. 

Government.

Although this information product, for the most part, is in 

the public domain, it also contains copyrighted materials as 

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items for other than personal use must be secured from the 

copyright owner.

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This report is available at:

http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2010/1083/m

For more information concerning this publication, contact:

Center Director, USGS Geologic Hazards Science Center

Box 25046, Mail Stop 966

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Or visit Geologic Hazards Science Center Web site at:

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Suggested citation:

Smoczyk, G.M., Hayes, G.P., Hamburger, M.W., Benz, H.M.,

Villaseñor, Antonio, and Furlong, K.P., 2013, Seismicity of the Earth

1900–2012 Philippine Sea plate and vicinity: U.S. Geological

Survey Open-File Report 2010–1083-M, 1 sheet, scale 1:10,000,000. 

ISSN 2331-1258 (online)

http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ofr20101083m

PROFILE C

 -500

 -100

 -400 0

 -200

 -500 -100

 -600

 -300

 -600 -200

 -700

 -400

 -700

 0

 -300 100

C C'

 200

 -200

 -300

 100

 -400

 0

 0 300

 -100

B -100 B'

PROFILE B