The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) on Friday, Oct. 10 clarified that the series of strong earthquakes that struck Cebu, La Union, and Davao Oriental in the past few days were coincidental and not related.

Phivolcs Director Dr. Teresito Bacolcol said these tremors were generated by different earthquake sources, which were independent active faults and trenches, and were not part of a sequence.

He said the magnitude 7.4 quake that struck Davao Oriental on Oct. 10 was triggered by the Philippine Trench, while the magnitude 4.4 earthquake that hit Pugo, La Union on Oct. 9 was generated by the Philippine Fault.

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Meanwhile, the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that shook Bogo City, Cebu on Sept. 30 originated from the Bogo Bay Fault.

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“Wala po tayong nakikitang pattern. Again, these are all normal activities. The Philippines is very much active tectonically (We don’t see any pattern. These are all normal activities. The Philippines is very much active tectonically),” Bacolcol said in a press conference.

The Phivolcs chief explained that the country’s geology makes such occurrences possible, with more than 180 active fault segments and six active trenches capable of generating earthquakes independently.

He added that the country experiences around 30 earthquakes a day because of its numerous active faults and trenches, although most of these are too weak to be felt.

“In one week, nagkaroon tayo ng malalakas na lindol, but then these are all coincidences (In one week, we had experienced several strong earthquakes, but these are coincidences),” he said.

Bacolcol pointed out that these earthquakes were independent events and that the movement of one fault or trench does not trigger another unless they are very close to each other.

Phivolcs also reassured the public that there is no indication the recent tremors are linked to the possible movement of the West Valley Fault or the so-called “Big One.”

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