PHIVOLCS: Davao Oriental earthquake due to Philippine Trench movement

LIVE UPDATES: Davao Oriental earthquake (Oct. 10, 2025)

The movement in the Philippine Trench caused the magnitude 7.4 earthquake in offshore Manay, Davao Oriental on Friday morning, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) said.

“We have trenches around the Philippines. We have six active trenches...The Philippine Trench is the one that produced this one,” PHIVOLCS chief Dr. Teresito Bacolcol said during a briefing.

According to him, several strong earthquakes were recorded around the area including the following:

• 1924 - magnitude 8.3
• 1952 - magnitude 7.6
• 1921- magnitude 7.5
• 1929 - magnitude 7.2
• 1992 - magnitude 7.1 (almost on the same area with Friday’s earthquake)

Bacolcol noted the difference between trenches and faults, which also generate earthquakes.

“Yung fault natin is a fracture or break sa crust that would, nagdi-displace ng ating mag bato,” he said.

(Our fault is a fracture or break in the crust that would displace our rocks.)

“Yung trench naman, yung seafloor natin, gumigitgit pailalim, we have this, the line doon sa dagat natin gumigitgit yung seafloor natin doon sa trench. As a result, nagkakaroon ng friction. And once the friction is released, yun yung nagkakaroon ng paglindol,” he added.

(For the trench, our seafloor goes downward. We have this line in our sea subducting in the trench. As a result, friction occurs. And once the friction is released, that’s what causes an earthquake.)

Bacolcol said that generally, trenches are capable of generating earthquakes with strength higher than magnitude 8. Meanwhile, the capability of faults to generate strong earthquakes depends on their length.

“Trenches generally are capable of generating great earthquakes. When we say great earthquakes, these are earthquakes greater than [magnitude] 8,” Bacolcol said.

“Yung mga fault naman natin, yung magnitude na puwede niyang i-generate (The faults we have, the magnitude it would generate) would be based on its length. So the longer the fault, the higher the magnitude it would be able to generate,” he added. 

The Davao Oriental earthquake has killed at least one person and prompted the PHIVOLCS to raise a tsunami alert over seven areas. PHIVOLCS later lifted the tsunami warning at 1:43 p.m.

It also came at a time when the Philippines is still reeling from a magnitude 6.9 earthquake that devastated Bogo City, Cebu, on September 30, 2025. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDDRMC) said that 74 people died from that quake while 559 were injured. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News