Magnitude 2.1 Earthquake felt in Coron Palawan

PHIVOLCS has identified the specific location of the seismic activity at 11.90°N, 120.48°E – 031 km S 71° E of Coron (Palawan).

Last year, the PHIVOLCS likewise recorded seismic activity on June 11, 2024 at 2:58pm, an offshore, shallow earthquake with magnitude 5.1 rattles Palawan, with the highest felt intensity was reported in Roxas, Palawan, north of Puerto Princesa. Two days after or on June 13, 2024 at 3:00pm, a magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck in the offshore of Coron.

In an article published by UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and authored by Deo Carlo Llamas et. al pointed out that Palawan is located within a seismically stable region. Llamas is a geologist-researcher, and a Science Research Specialist I of PHIVOCS.

“Palawan, a long, thin island that trends northeast-southwest, appears to point from the main Philippine archipelago to the island of Borneo. Palawan sits atop the Eurasian plate and has traditionally been considered a seismically stable region. In contrast, the rest of the Philippines is located within the Philippine Mobile Belt, a highly dynamic area marked by active tectonic movements, studded with volcanoes, and replete with earthquake activity,” the published article reads.

In explaining these seismic activities felt in this island province, Llamas et al in their article “Earthquakes rattle Palawan, Philippines: Is the region as stable as we thought?” published in UNDRR website, said that Palawan have active faults and can experience shaking from earthquakes.

“These events not only startled the residents of the island, but also caught some scientists in the Philippines off guard. To that end, we present a rapid reassessment of Palawan’s seismic potential. We accomplished this by using historic earthquakes, the PHIVOLCS earthquake catalog, and detailed, high-resolution bathymetric maps. We found that despite its apparent stability, Palawan does, indeed, have active faults nearby and can experience shaking from large earthquakes that strike elsewhere in the Philippines,”.