Mindanao fault line causing strong quakes being monitored –PHIVOLCS

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology is monitoring the possible movement in the Malungon Fault Line, which can produce a magnitude-7.2  earthquake, following the magnitude 6.5 temblor that struck Tulunan, Cotabato on Thursday morning.

LOOK: Malungon fault line, binabantayan ng PHIVOLCS dahil posibleng gumalaw ito kasunod ng mga lindol sa Tulunan, Cotobato. Ayon kay Ismael Narag, OIC Phivolcs Earthquake Monitoring, kaya nitong lumikha ng 7.2 magnitude na lindol. | via @allangatus @dzbb pic.twitter.com/f3XkXlIhWx

— GMA News (@gmanews) October 31, 2019

According to PHIVOLCS Earthquake Monitoring OIC Ismael Narag, they believed that the series of earthquakes –July 9, October 16, 29, and 31 —could have been triggered by one fault.

"Ibig sabihin lang nito, aside from being related, probably one fault may be triggering the other faults that essentially produce this major event,” Narag said in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV.

This information was based on the observation that the series of strong earthquakes are within the same magnitude range, from magnitude 5.5 to 6.5, Narag added.

“When we analyzed yung earthquake records, they showed that the mechanism suggests, pahalang yung galaw noong gumagalaw na fault for this earthquake,” Narag said.

For worst case scenario, the PHIVOLCS executive said they are monitoring the Malungon fault line that can produce the strongest earthquake among the active fault line in the area.

PHIVOLCS team already visited the surface of the fault line in Davao Del Sur and Cotabato, to install instruments that could monitor its movement, Narag added. —Joviland Rita/LBG, GMA News