Hundreds of aftershocks recorded after magnitude 7.4 quake in Davao Oriental

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

Hundreds of aftershocks have been recorded following the magnitude 7.4 earthquake that hit Davao Oriental on Friday morning.

In a Balitanghali interview, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology Supervising Science Research Specialist Angelito Lanuza said that the number had been recorded from the Mati seismic station within one hour of the initial quake.

"So far, siguro nasa hundreds na po 'yan kasi one hour pa lang. Ganun naman po kadalasan 'yan pero sa ngayon nagbibilang pa lang (So far, most likely hundreds of aftershock have been recorded in an hour. We are still counting) from our Mati station which is the nearest seismic station in the area," he said.

“Malakas po talaga yung 7.5, it’s almost kasing lakas ng 1990 earthquake. [Magnitude] 7.8 'yung 1990 earthquake. Ang kagandahan, medyo may kalaliman nang konti po 'yung depth [ng lindol ngayon] tapos po medyo 44 kilometers naman po [at] nasa dagat,” he added.

(7.5 is really strong, it’s almost as strong as the 1990 earthquake. The 1990 earthquake was [magnitude] 7.8. The good thing is, the [current earthquake] has a deeper depth. It’s also 44 kilometers [and] located at sea.)

Meanwhile, he further said that any anticipated tsunamis may have already occurred within 10 minutes after the advisory was issued.

“Ang estimate natin diyan na arrival time is less than 10 minutes po. Kung nagkaroon po ng tsunami kanina, dumating na po sa kanila. Yun po yung tinuturo natin sa coastal communities, na ang number one natural sign should be a large earthquake or a minimum of M'magnitude 6.5 is actually tsunamigenic po,” he said.

(Our estimated arrival time for that is less than 10 minutes. If a tsunami was to occur, it would have already arrived. That is what we have been teaching coastal communities, that the number one natural sign should be a large earthquake or a minimum of magnitude 6.5 is actually tsunamigenic.)

Currently, a tsunami warning is up over Eastern Samar, Dinagat Islands, Davao Oriental, Southern Leyte, Surigao Del Norte, Leyte, and Surigao Del Sur. The tsunami warning was lifted at 1:43 p.m. Friday.

Several structures have been reported damaged, while one person was reported dead in Mati City.

Philippine Trench movement

In a separate interview with Super Radyo dzBB, PHIVOLCS Director Teresito Bacolcol said the most likely source of the earthquake is the Philippine Trench.

Lanuza explained that the back-to-back movements of the Philippine Trench will not lead to the “Big One,” noting the trench does not move as a whole.

“Hindi po ito bago. Ito po 'yung inaasahan natin talaga na kayang magdulot po ng malaking lindol… This is just a coincidence [na] nagkakaroon ng tig-iisa na Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao. Pero this is purely coincidence po,” he said in Balitanghali.

(This isn’t new.  We are really expecting this trench to produce strong earthquakes… This is just a coincidence [that] one each occurred at Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. But this is just purely coincidence.)

“Magkakahiwalay po sila. Pag titignan po natin sa mapa natin, ang mga fault and trenches parang guhit. So, in fact, hindi naman po 'yan gumagalaw ng buoan. Hindi po 'yan mangyayari,” he added.

(They are separate. If we look at our map, faults and trenches are like lines. So, in fact, it doesn’t move as a whole. That won’t happen.)

Lanuza said that the Philippine Trench is divided into segments that are unrelated to each other.

“Since hindi naman magkakadugtong ang guhit na 'yan, if we take a look at the map, wala po silang kinalaman sa isa't isa,” he said.

(Since these lines aren’t connected, if we take a look at the map, it doesn’t have anything to do with each other.)

In 2024, PHIVOLCS said that the Philippine Trench had the capacity to generate earthquakes as strong as magnitude 8, which can also cause tsunamis as high as 10 meters.

Meanwhile, he also noted that the recent Davao Oriental earthquake occurred at the most seismically active part of the trench, which records at least 35 earthquakes a day.

“Kung titignan po natin ang seismicity natin, from the 35 earthquakes per day, talaga hindi mo makikita 'yung Davao Oriental. Natatabunan talaga siya ng earthquake epicenters. It only means na talaga pong number one source natin ng earthquake 'yan sa Davao Oriental,” he said.

(If we look at the seismicity, from the 35 earthquakes per day, you really won’t see Davao Oriental. It is buried under earthquake epicenters. It only means that it really is the number one source of the earthquakes in Davao Oriental.) —AOL, GMA Integrated News