The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology recorded a Magnitude 6.1 Earthquake at a depth of 15 km about 5 km to the southwest of the town of Magsaysay in Davao Del Sur Province on Mindanao Island, Philippines, slightly after 12.20 pm local time slightly after 4.20 am GMT on Sunday 7 February 2021. There are noinitial reports of any damage or casualties associated with this event, but it was widely felt across central Mindanao.
The geology of the central Philippines is Complex. The west of Mindanao Island is located on the Banda (or Sunda) Microplate, and the east on the Philippine Plate, which is being subducted beneath the Sunda (or Banda) Microplate along the central part of the island. Immediately to the east of the Island the Pacific Plate is being subducted along the Philippine Trench, and passes beneath eastern Mindanao as it sinks into the Earth. This is not a smooth process, an the plates constantly stick together then break apart again as the pressure builds up, resulting in Earthquakes.
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