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A severe earthquake struck the northern Philippines, more specifically Northern Luzon. The quake resulted in at least 4 fatalities and more than 60 injuries, as well as dozens of landslides and an extensive amount of building damage.
According to the PHILIPPINE INSTITUTE OF VOLCANOLOGY AND SEISMOLOGY, the earthquake struck Northern Luzon at 8:43 a.m. local time. The earthquake’s initial magnitude was 7.1, however, it quickly dropped to 7.0. According to USGS, the depth of the quake was approximately 6.2 miles, and its radius reached as far as the little town of Dolores.
At least four people passed away from the quake; mostly due to buildings collapsing.
Despite being a catastrophe, the Philippines has experienced such events before, according to the USGS, “Magnitude 7 or greater earthquakes in this region since 1970 have exhibited reverse, normal, and strike-slip faulting.”
These active plate areas lead to high seismicity rates. Since 1970, there have been 11 other earthquakes of magnitude 6.5 or larger have occurred within 250 km of the July 27, 2022 quake.
The largest of these quakes was a magnitude 7.7 strike-slip on July 16, 1990, located approximately 215 km south of the July 27 earthquake. In 1990, an earthquake killed roughly 1,600 people and injured over 3,000 people. It also caused landslides, subsidence, liquefaction, and sand blow in the Baguio-Cabanatuan-Dagupan area.
Over 50 landslides have been reported, and 218 towns in 15 providences were affected by the earthquake, the impact was even felt in the Philippines’ capital city Manila more than 200 miles away. Patients, some in wheelchairs, and medical personnel were evacuated from at least two hospitals in Manila, roughly 200 miles south of Lagangilang. Later, they were told they could return after engineers found only a few minor cracks on walls.”
On average the Philippines has just around 28 earthquakes a day, which adds up to about 10,000 a year.
Written By Dylan Santoyo
Edited by Sheena Robertson
Sources:
CNN: Four dead in 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit northern Philippines, impact felt in Manila
USGS: M 7.0 – 13 km SE of Dolores, Philippines
AP News: Strong quake kills 5, injures dozens in northern Philippines
New York Times: Strong Quake Hits Northern Philippines, Killing at Least 4
PHILIPPINE INSTITUTE OF VOLCANOLOGY AND SEISMOLOGY
Images Courtesy of EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License