Magnitude 6.9 Earthquake in Davao del Sur Province, the Philippines.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology recorded a Magnitude 6.9 Earthquake at a depth of 3 km about 5 km to the west of the town of Matanao in Davao del Sur Province on Mindanao Island, Philippines, slightly after 2.10 pm local time (slightly after 6.10 am GMT) on Sunday 15 December 2019. The Earthquake is known to have killed at least four people, including a six-year-old girl, and injured many more, mostly in building collapses with the event being felt across the southern Philippines. 

 Vicitms of the 15 December 2019 Davao del Sur Earthquake, trapped beneath a wall in the town of Padada. Korte Supremo/Twitter.

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.

 Subduction beneath the Philippines. Yves Descatoire/Singapore Earth Observatory.

Witness accounts of Earthquakes can help geologists to understand these events, and the structures that cause them. The international non-profit organisation Earthquake Report is interested in hearing from people who may have felt this event; if you felt this quake then you can report it to Earthquake Report here.

The location of the 15 December 2019 Davao del Sur Province Earthquake. Contour lines show rates of movement during the quake, the red line is a boundary between two tectonic plates, in this case the Pacific and Philippine plates. USGS.

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Magnitude 6.3 Earthquake beneath Mindanao Island, the Philippines, kills at least five.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology recorded a Magnitude 6.3 Earthquake at a depth of 8 km about 22km to the southeast of the town of Tulunan in Cotabato Province on Mindanao Island, Philippines, slightly after 7.35 pm local time (slightly after 11.35 am GMT) on Wednesday 16 October 2019. The Earthquake is known to have killed at least five people and injured at least fifty more, including two people killed and eighteen injured in a landslide in the town of Magsaysay in Davao del Sur Province, a child killed in a building collapse in the same town, and another child killed when a wall collapsed in Maguindanao Province. People have reported feeling the quake across the southern Philippines. More than 200 aftershocks have been reported following the initial event.

Damage to a building in the city of Digos in Davao del Sur Province, Mindanao Island, following an Earthquake on 16 October 2019. Manman Dejeto/AFP.

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.

 Subduction beneath the Philippines. Yves Descatoire/Singapore Earth Observatory.

Witness accounts of Earthquakes can help geologists to understand these events, and the structures that cause them. The international non-profit organisation Earthquake Report is interested in hearing from people who may have felt this event; if you felt this quake then you can report it to Earthquake Report here.

The location of the 16 October 2019 Cotabato Province Earthquake. Contour lines show rates of movement during the quake, the red line is a boundary between two tectonic plates, in this case the Pacific and Philippine plates. USGS.

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Two killed in escalating violence over mining in Davao del Sur Province, Mindanao, the Philippines.

A soldier and a militiaman have died after being shot by unknown assailants near a camp in the Kiblawan Municipality in Davao del Sur Province on Mindanao Island in the Philippines at about 8.00 am local time on Friday 13 September 2013 (midnight between Thursday 12 and Friday 13, GMT). The man have been named as Corporal Ritchie Maravilla (38) and militiaman Enrique Tiogangco, the two were rushed to the Gregorio Matas District Hospital in Poblacion, but were declared dead on arrival. The deaths come as part of a rising cycle of violence in the area, as the Philippine Army and the government-backed KITCO militia which is financed by Sagittarius Mining, Part of Glencore Xstrata, battle members of the B'laan ethnic group opposed to mining in their ancestral lands. The killings are thought to be a revenge attack for the deaths of B'laan leaders opposed to the mines at the hands of the militia.

A demonstration against the Sagittarius Mining in October 2012. Arkibong Bayan.

Large scale, foreign-owned mines have played an important role the the rapid growth of the Philippine economy in the past two decades, however they are often unpopular with local populations. These larger mines pay revenue to the central government, but often provide less employment in local communities than smaller scale artisanal mines, and frequently have a patchy record on environmental and safety issues.

A number of human rights groups have expressed extreme concern at the situation in Davao del Sur, where militias have been implicated in a series of killings of anti-mining activists and B'laan leaders alarmed at the increasing militarization of their ancestral lands.

See also Miner killed in landslide on Mindanao Island, the Philippines, Six Chinese miners arrested at illegal Philippine goldmine, Miner killed by gas on Mindanao Island and Operations ceased at Padcal Mine following flooding.

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