Faulting and Seismic Zones of The Philippines

FAULTING AND
SEISMIC ZONES OF
THE PHILIPPINES
What is a fault?
A FAULT IS A FRACTURE OR ZONE OF FRACTURES BETWEEN
TWO BLOCKS OF ROCK. FAULTS ALLOW THE BLOCKS TO MOVE
RELATIVE TO EACH OTHER. THIS MOVEMENT MAY OCCUR
RAPIDLY, IN THE FORM OF AN EARTHQUAKE - OR MAY OCCUR
SLOWLY, IN THE FORM OF CREEP. FAULTS MAY RANGE IN
LENGTH FROM A FEW MILLIMETERS TO THOUSANDS OF
KILOMETERS.
What is a fault?
MOST FAULTS PRODUCE REPEATED DISPLACEMENTS OVER
GEOLOGIC TIME. DURING AN EARTHQUAKE, THE ROCK ON ONE SIDE
OF THE FAULT SUDDENLY SLIPS WITH RESPECT TO THE OTHER.
THE FAULT SURFACE CAN BE HORIZONTAL OR VERTICAL OR SOME
ARBITRARY ANGLE IN BETWEEN.
PHILIPPINE FAULT ZONE
The 1,200-km-long Philippine fault zone (PFZ) is a major
tectonic feature that transects the whole Philippine
archipelago from northwestern Luzon to southeastern
Mindanao. This arc-parallel, left-lateral strike slip fault
is divided into several segments and has been the
source of large-magnitude earthquakes in recent
years, such as the 1973 Ragay Gulf earthquake, 1990
Luzon earthquake, and 2003 Masbate earthquake.
There are five active fault lines in the
country, these are the :
Western Philippine Fault
Eastern Philippine Fault
South of Mindanao Fault
Central Philippine Fault
Marikina Valley Fault or the West Valley
Fault
Western Philippine Fault
Here are the locations where the Western Philippine
fault line crosses:
Luzon Sea, Mindoro Strait, Panay Gulf, Sulu Sea
South of Mindanao Fault

The Mindanao fault may be seen running across the Celebes Sea as well
as the Moro Gulf. Fortunately, even if the Southern Mindanao Fault is
located in the city, it is unlikely that it would pose a threat to people
there.
Nonetheless, if the fault line shifts, the whole region of Southern
Mindanao is in jeopardy. Even the provinces and cities that are directly
close to it are in danger, so everyone should be ready.
Eastern Philippine Fault
In the same way that the Western Philippine Fault was discovered
under the ground, so was the Eastern Philippine Fault. These
active faults can be found in the Philippine Sea.
Central Philippine Fault
Central Philippine Fault Zone is responsible for the archipelago's fault creep,
slow slide occurrences, and big earthquakes on the other end of the
spectrum. Since this fault line is similar to the Marikina Valley Fault Line, it
goes across numerous provinces and cities in various cities from the
northern portion of the archipelago down to the northern part of Davao.
Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Aurora, Davao del Norte, Eastern Leyte,
Masbate, Quezon, Southern Leyte, The entire Ilocos Norte
The central Philippine Fault Zone is found to be the locus of
great earthquakes, a transition zone with slow slip and creep
activity. This is based on the analysis and correlation of
seismic historic data and detailed documentation of recent
seismic events in the region.
The central Philippine Fault Zone is found to be the locus of
great earthquakes, a transition zone with slow slip and creep
activity. This is based on the analysis and correlation of
seismic historic data and detailed documentation of recent
seismic events in the region.
Marikina Valley Fault or West Valley Fault
Montalban, San Mateo, Marikina, Pasig, Taguig, Muntinlupa, San Pedro, Binan,
Carmona, Santa Rosa, Calamba, Tagaytay, Oriental Mindoro
The most significant, historic earthquake zone (geological fault) in the
Philippines is located just 10km East of Manila City and is known as the "West Valley
Fault System" or, frequently, "Marikina Fault".
The West Valley Fault is 100 kilometers in length and traverses the cities of
Metro Manila namely Taguig, Muntinlupa, Paranaque, Quezon City, Pasig, Makati,
and Marikina as well as nearby provinces of Rizal, Laguna, Cavite, and Bulacan.
These places will suffer greatly when this fault move.
And when it did, it could generate a 7.2 magnitude earthquake causing great
devastation of the most progressive portion of the Metro Manila.
According to DOST - PHIVOLCS this fault moves every 200 – 400 years and the
last time it did was in the year 1658, that was 359 years ago.
PHILIPPINE
FAULT ZONE
1990 Luzon earthquake
2003 Masbate earthquake

What are the different
What is a fault? types?
NORMAL FAULT
A FAULT IS A FRACTURE OR ZONE O F FRA CTURES BETWEEN
A DIP-SLIP FAULT IN WHICH THE BLOCK ABOVE THE FAULT HAS MOVED DOWNWARD
TW O BLO C K S
OF ROCK.
RELATIVE TO THEFAULTS ALLOWTHIS
BLOCK BELOW. THETYPE
BLOCKS TO MO VE
OF FAULTING R ELATI
OCCURS V E TO E AC
IN RESPONSE TOH
OTHER.
EXTENSION THIS
AND MOVEMENT
IS OFTEN M AY
OBSERVED IN OCCUR RA PI DLY,
THE WESTERN IN STATES
UNITED THE FOBASIN
R M O FAND
ANRANGE
PROVINCE AND ALONG
EARTHQUAKE - OROCEANIC RIDGESLO
MAY O CCUR SYSTEMS.
WLY, I N THE FO R M O F CREEP. FAULTS
MAY RANGE IN LENGTH FRO M A FEW MI LLI METER S TO THO U S ANDS O F
REVERSE (THRUST) FAULT KILOMETERS.
A DIP-SLIP FAULT IN WHICH THE UPPER BLOCK, ABOVE THE FAULT PLANE, MOVES UP AND
OVER THE LOWER BLOCK. THIS TYPE OF FAULTING IS COMMON IN AREAS OF COMPRESSION,
SUCH AS REGIONS WHERE ONE PLATE IS BEING SUBDUCTED UNDER ANOTHER
STRIKE-SLIP FAULT
A FAULT ON WHICH THE TWO BLOCKS SLIDE PAST ONE ANOTHER. THE SAN ANDREAS FAULT
IS AN EXAMPLE OF A RIGHT LATERAL FAULT.
BASED ON STUDY THE GUINYANGAN FAULT IS
DEFINED TO BE THE NORTHERN LOCKED PORTION
WI T H A R E C U R R E N C E I N T E R V A L O F A S S H O R T A S 6 5
YEARS. THE MASBATE FAULT IS THE CENTRAL PART
WI T H LARGE AND MEDIUM
ACCOMPANIED BY UNUSUALLY LARGE GROUND
EARTHQUAKES
Most Notable
RUPTURES. THE NORTH CENTRAL LEYTE FAULT AND
THE SOUTH CENTRAL LEYTE FAULT, ON THE OTHER Faults in the
Philippines
HAND, ARE CHARACTERIZED BY ASEISMIC CREEP
AND MEDIUM-SIZED EVENTS, USUALLY WITH
CLUSTERS OF FORESHOCKS, RESPECTIVELY.
UNUSUAL SEISMIC ACTIVITY BOTH ON THE MASBATE
FAULT AND CENTRAL LEYTE FAULT SOMEHOW
C O R R E L A T E S WE L L WI T H T H E B E H A V I O R O F K N O W N
SLOW EVENTS AND CREEP ACTIVITY.
Most Notable
Faults in the
Philippines
Marikina Valley Fault System
East Valley Fault
The East Valley Fault is around 10 km long and
traverses the areas of Rodriguez and San
Mateo in Rizal Province. The fault reportedly
moves roughly every 400 years and could
generate a magnitude 7.2 quake and a
casualty of over 30,000 people.
West Valley Fault

Meanwhile, the West Valley Fault is 100 kms in
length and runs through the portions of
Quezon City, Pasig, Marikina, Makati, Taguig,
and Muntinlupa in Metro Manila and nearby
provinces. The fault could trigger the “Big
One” and be followed by a tsunami, according
to PHIVOLCS.
Earthquake Records
Plot of seismicity in the
Philippines from 1973-2006.
Size of circle scaled to
magnitude while the scale
bar represents depth. Data
from USGS Advanced
National Seismic System
(ANSS) and plotted using
Generic Mapping Tools
(GMT).
SEISMIC ZONES
A seismic zone is used to describe
an area where earthquakes tend to
focus.
The Seismic Zones of the
Philippines
Seismic Zone Classification Seismic
design criteria in building codes are
defined by seismic zones location of
the structures. In general, seismic
zones are categorized into Zone 0 to
Zone 4 in which zone 0 denoting the
weakest earthquake ground motion
and zone 4 as the strongest.
The Seismic Zones of the
Philippines
The National Structural Code of the
Philippines 2010 (NSCP 2010) divided the
Philippines into two seismic zones only: Zone 2
and Zone 4 (Association of Structural
Engineers of the Philippines). Areas under
Zone 2 have low to moderate probability of
damaging ground motion whereas areas under
Zone 4 have high probability. NSCP 2010
assigned a seismic factor of 0.2 for Zone 2
areas and 0.4 for areas under Zone 4. Figure 1
shows that Palawan, Sulu and Tawi-tawi are
under Zone 2 and the rest of the country is
under Zone 4.
Philippiine Mobile belt
The Philippine Mobile Belt is a complex portion of the
tectonic boundary between the Eurasian Plate and the
Philippine Sea Plate, comprising most of the country of
the Philippines. It includes two subduction zones, the
Manila Trench to the west and the Philippine Trench to
the east, as well as the Philippine Fault System. Within
the Belt, a number of crustal blocks or microplates
which have been shorn off the adjoining major plates are
undergoing massive deformation.
Most segments of the Philippines, including northern
Luzon, are part of the Philippine Mobile Belt, which is
bounded by the Philippine Sea Plate to the east, the
Molucca Sea Collision Zone to the south, Sunda Plate to the
southwest, and the South China Sea Basin to the west and
north-west. To the north it ends in eastern Taiwan, the
zone of active collision between the North Luzon Trough
portion of the Luzon Volcanic Arc and South China. The
Philippine Mobile Belt has also been called the Philippine
Microplate and the Taiwan-Luzon-Mindoro Belt.

THANK YOU!
Members:
Asilo, Princess F.
De Chavez, Stephen Angelo
Enriquez, Ramir Jan M.
Fortus, Jerome Benedict
Rosuelo, Kyla

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FAULTING AND

South of Mindanao Fault

Central Philippine Fault

2003 Masbate earthquake

West Valley Fault

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