what kind of fault is the philippine fault zone

What is the type of fault in the Philippines?

The Philippine Fault Zone which trends n40°w is widely accepted as a major strike-slip fault comparable to the San Andreas fault. An area in south-eastern Luzon, commonly regarded as part of the main fault zone, has been studied in an effort to date the faulting and to establish its nature and extent. What is the big one in the Philippines?

Where are the left stepping en echelon faults in the Philippines?

This project is a work in progress; field mapping and paleoseismic investigation have been done along the left-stepping en echelon faults: San Manuel, San Jose, Digdig, and Gabaldon in Central Luzon and in Surigao fault and Compostela Valley area in Eastern Mindanao.

What type of tectonic plates are in the Philippines?

The Philippine Mobile Belt is compressed on the west by the Eurasian Plate and two arms of the Sunda Plate, and on the east by the Philippine Sea Plate. These tectonic plates have compressed and lifted parts of the Philippines causing extensive faulting, primarily on a north-south axis.

What is the Sindangan fault?

The Sindangan Fault segment represents the northern continuation of the fault towards northern Zamboanga. Focal mechanism solutions of earthquakes offshore and narrow shear zones transecting recent gravel deposits suggest active left-lateral faulting (Pubellier and others, 1991).

What type of fault is the Philippine Fault Zone?

left-lateral strike-slip faultThe Philippine fault is a ~1250-km-long, left-lateral strike-slip fault extending NNW parallel to the Philippine archipelago. This fault has been very active in the past 200 years with several destructive earthquakes accompanied by surface rupture.

What are the different types of fault in the Philippines?

There are five active fault lines in the country namely the Western Philippine Fault, the Eastern Philippine Fault, the South of Mindanao Fault, Central Philippine Fault and the Marikina/Valley Fault System.

How was the Philippine fault zone formed?

This seismically active fault zone in the Philippine Mobile Belt was formed as a response to the northwestward convergence of the Philippine Sea Plate and southeastward convergence of the Eurasian Plate (Aurelio, 2000; Queaño et al., 2007;Armada et al., 2000).

Where is the Philippine fault?

Philippine Fault Zone It extends from Davao Gulf in the south, bisects the Caraga region at the Agusan River basin, crosses to Leyte and Masbate islands, and traverses Quezon province in eastern Luzon before passing through Nueva Ecija up to the Ilocos region in northwest Luzon.

What type of fault is Marikina Valley Fault System?

lateral strike-slip fault systemThe Marikina Valley Fault System, also known as the Valley Fault System (VFS), is a dominantly right-lateral strike-slip fault system in Luzon, Philippines.

What is known by fault zone?

A fault is a fracture or zone of fractures between two blocks of rock. Faults allow the blocks to move relative to each other. This movement may occur rapidly, in the form of an earthquake - or may occur slowly, in the form of creep. Faults may range in length from a few millimeters to thousands of kilometers.

Is the Philippines on a fault line?

The 1,200-km-long Philippine fault zone (PFZ) is a major tectonic feature that transects the whole Philippine archipelago from northwestern Luzon to southeastern Mindanao.

What is the famous fault in the Philippines?

Marikina Valley FaultThere are five active fault lines in the country, these are the Western Philippine Fault, the Eastern Philippine Fault; the South of Mindanao Fault, the Central Philippine Fault, and the most famous one the Marikina Valley Fault or the West Valley Fault.

What causes a fault zone?

A fault is formed in the Earth's crust as a brittle response to stress. Generally, the movement of the tectonic plates provides the stress, and rocks at the surface break in response to this. Faults have no particular length scale.

How is a fault zone formed?

It forms when rock above an inclined fracture plane moves downward, sliding along the rock on the other side of the fracture. Normal faults are often found along divergent plate boundaries, such as under the ocean where new crust is forming. Long, deep valleys can also be the result of normal faulting.

What type of plate boundary created the Philippines?

convergent plate boundaryThis highly active convergent plate boundary extends along both sides the Philippine Islands, from Luzon in the north to the Celebes Islands in the south.

What is the biggest fault in the Philippines?

The “Big One” is a term associated with the effects of high-magnitude earthquakes that may occur not only in the Greater Metro Manila area but also in several regions or provinces nationwide susceptible to natural disasters.

What is the largest fault line in the Philippines?

What is the San Andreas Fault?This fault is one of the largest faults in the world, running more than 800 miles from the Salton Sea to Cape Mendocino. ... See Your Local Earthquake Risk.Scientist project the San Andreas fault line could cause a devastating earthquake in California by 2030.More items...•

Where is the largest fault line in the Philippines?

Based on the Phivolcs findings, Deloso said the fault in Davao Oriental approximately 30 kilometers long is connected to the Philippine Fault line – the longest fault in the Philippines that stretches up to 1,200 kilometers from Luzon down to Mindanao.

Is Marikina Valley Fault an active fault?

The 135-km long Marikina Valley fault system (MVFS) is an active dextral strike-slip fault that transects the eastern part of metro Manila, Luzon Island, Philippines.

Is Marikina City an active fault?

The Marikina Valley Fault System is considered to be almost fully locked, i.e. almost no movement, so the pressure is building all of the time; historic records suggest that it has slipped with a jolt every 200-400 years (310 years on average).

Which fault system runs in Metro Manila?

The Marikina Valley fault system (MVFS) is the closest active fault to Manila and represents the most likely near-field source of large damaging earthquakes. The largest earthquake that has struck Manila historically, surface wave magnitude (MS) 7.5, occurred in 1645.

What is an example of a fault zone?

Well-known terrestrial examples include the San Andreas Fault, which, during the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, had a maximum movement of 6 metres (20 feet), and the Anatolian Fault, which, during the İzmit earthquake of 1999, moved more than 2.5 metres (8.1 feet).

What are the 3 fault types?

There are three main types of fault which can cause earthquakes: normal, reverse (thrust) and strike-slip.

What is the types of fault?

There are four types of faulting -- normal, reverse, strike-slip, and oblique. A normal fault is one in which the rocks above the fault plane, or hanging wall, move down relative to the rocks below the fault plane, or footwall.

What are the different types of fault explain each?

There are four types of faulting -- normal, reverse, strike-slip, and oblique. A normal fault is one in which the rocks above the fault plane, or hanging wall, move down relative to the rocks below the fault plane, or footwall. A reverse fault is one in which the hanging wall moves up relative to the footwall.

How many fault system are in the Philippines?

There are about 30 active fault systems in the Philippines from where earthquakes may originate. Two of the most common faults are the Philippine Fault consisting of at least 20 segments distributed from Luzon to Mindanao and the Valley Fault System consisting of two segments transecting the GMMA area.

What are the 3 main types of fault explain each of them?

There are three different types of faults: Normal, Reverse, and Transcurrent (Strike-Slip).Normal faults form when the hanging wall drops down. ... Reverse faults form when the hanging wall moves up. ... Transcurrent or Strike-slip faults have walls that move sideways, not up or down.

What are the 3 main fault types?

There are three main types of fault which can cause earthquakes: normal, reverse (thrust) and strike-slip.

What type of fault movement is the Philippine Fault Zone?

strike-slip fault The Philippine Fault Zone which trends n40°w is widely accepted as a major strike-slip fault comparable to the San Andreas fault.

Where is the West Valley Fault in the Philippines?

The West Valley Fault, which traverses various parts of Metro Manila and surrounding provinces, is expected to greatly affect the country since the region is not only highly populated, it also hosts the seat of government and the country’s business capital.

What is the Philippine fault system?

The Philippine Fault System is a major inter-related system of geological faults throughout the whole of the Philippine Archipelago, primarily caused by tectonic forces compressing the Philippines into what geophysicists call the Philippine Mobile Belt.

How are all faults in the Philippines interrelated?

All faults in the Philippines are inter-related by the tectonic forces of the Philippine Mobile Belt, or its tectonic induced volcanism. A more complete understanding can be gained by viewing the faults in the Philippines as an inter-related Philippine Fault System.

What is the Mindanao fault?

Mindanao Fault – a prominent NW-trending linear fracture zone on the western third of Mindanao Island and has 2 distinct segments, including that which separates the Daguma Range from the Cotabato Basin corresponding to the Cotabato Fault segment. This segment is highly linear and has features suggestive of normal faulting although it may have been a left lateral strike slip fault during its early history. The Quaternary Mt. Parker volcano is located at the western end of this fault and, on radar images, seems to be cut by the fault and terraces formed by Quaternary limestone mark the Daguma Range. These, together with the young morphology of incised river valleys, suggests a young age for the fault along which the Daguma Range was uplifted. Although Quaternary in age, it still has to be ascertained whether the fault is active or not (Quebral, 1994). The Sindangan Fault segment represents the northern continuation of the fault towards northern Zamboanga. Focal mechanism solutions of earthquakes offshore and narrow shear zones transecting recent gravel deposits suggest active left-lateral faulting (Pubellier and others, 1991).

What is the Philippine mobile belt?

Philippine Mobile Belt. The Philippine Mobile Belt is compose d of a large number of accretionary blocks and terranes. These terranes are long and narrow like the Zambales ophiolites which is at least 400 km long and 50 km wide. The strips generally run north–south and the zones of convergence are usually demarcated by fault lines.

Where is the Sibuyan Sea Fault located?

Sibuyan Sea Fault – located offshore north of Masbate; using bathymetric (SeaMarc) and paleomagnetic data gathered in the northern section of the Sibuyan Sea, Sarewitz and Lewis (1991) were led to conclude that the Sibuyan Sea Fault is relayed with the Verde Passage Fault, both left-lateral faults, by an aborted spreading center under a transtensional tectonic regime.

Which fault zone is most seismically active?

Earthquakes. The central Philippine Fault Zone consisting of the Guinayangan, Masbate, and Central Leyte faults are the most seismically active regions transecting the islands of Bondoc to Leyte.

Where is the Lubang-Verde Passage Fault located?

Lubang-Verde Passage Fault System – located offshore between Batangas peninsula and Mindoro Island, following the northwest–southeast alignment of Verde and Lubang islands (thus the name) and essentially strike-slip (left-lateral) fault. Mindoro/Aglubang Fault – break in slope between mountainous western Mindoro and the flat lands of eastern.

What is the Philippine fault system?

The Philippine Fault System is a primary inter-related system of geological faults throughout the Philippine Archipelago, [1] primarily caused by tectonic forces compressing the Philippines into what geophysicists call the Philippine Mobile Belt. [2] Some notable Philippine faults include the Guinayangan, Masbate, and Leyte faults.

Where is the Mindanao fault?

Mindanao Fault – a prominent NW-trending linear fracture zone on the western third of Mindanao Island and has two distinct segments, including that which separates the Daguma Range from the Cotabato Basin corresponding to the Cotabato Fault segment.

What faults are most seismically active?

The central Philippine Fault Zone consisting of the Guinayangan, Masbate, and Central Leyte faults are the most seismically active regions transecting the islands of Bondoc to Leyte. The northern and southern extensions of the Philippine Fault Zone experience infrequent earthquakes and are often described as locked segments capable of larger earthquake earthquakes. The largest (M7.0) and most destructive earthquakes are generated along the Guinayangan fault every 30–100 years with slip rates of 20–33 mm/year as determined by GPS and historical records. Moderate earthquakes (M3.0–5.0) are observed along the Masbate fault with frequent aftershocks indicative of continued displacement and regional slip of 5–35 mm/year. The northern and southern segments of the Central Leyte fault experiences different seismic activity dependent on regional geology. While the Southern Central Leyte fault experiences moderate seismic events, the Northern Central Leyte fault creeps at approximately 25 mm/year. Historical data on the PFZ is limited due to the faults' geographical location predominantly offshore, lack of complete paleoseismic data, and lack of permanent Global Positioning System (GPS) that can trace movements over long periods. [1]

What are the tectonic plates in the Philippines?

The Philippine Mobile Belt is composed of a large number of accretionary blocks and terranes. These terranes are long and narrow like the Zambales ophiolites, which are at least 400 km long and 50 km wide. The strips generally run north-south, and fault lines usually demarcate the zones of convergence. The Philippine Mobile Belt is compressed on the west by the Eurasian Plate and two arms of the Sunda Plate, and on the east by the Philippine Sea Plate. These tectonic plates have compressed and lifted parts of the Philippines, causing extensive faulting, primarily on a north–south axis. All faults in the Philippines are inter-related by the Philippine Mobile Belt's tectonic forces or its tectonic-induced volcanism. A complete understanding can be gained by viewing the faults in the Philippines as an inter-related Philippine Fault System.

Where is the Sibuyan Sea Fault located?

Sibuyan Sea Fault – located offshore north of Masbate; using bathymetric (SeaMarc) and paleomagnetic data gathered in the northern section of the Sibuyan Sea, Sarewitz and Lewis (1991) were led to conclude that the Sibuyan Sea Fault is relayed with the Verde Passage Fault, both left-lateral faults, by an aborted spreading center under a transtensional tectonic regime.

What is the Philippine mobile belt?

Philippine Mobile Belt. The Philippine Mobile Belt is composed of a large number of accretionary blocks and terranes. These terranes are long and narrow like the Zambalesophiolites, which are at least 400 km long and 50 km wide. The strips generally run north-south, and fault lines usually demarcate the zones of convergence.

Which plate is compressed on the west by the Eurasian Plate and two arms of the Sunda Plate?

The strips generally run north-south, and fault lines usually demarcate the zones of convergence. The Philippine Mobile Belt is compressed on the west by the Eurasian Plate and two arms of the Sunda Plate, and on the east by the Philippine Sea Plate. These tectonic plates have compressed and lifted parts of the Philippines, ...

Guinayangan Fault

According to the 2020 data from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), the Guinayangan Fault is an active fault traversing Quezon Province’s central portion, and is also a part of the PFZ.

Masbate Fault

Masbate is considered a seismically active region in the country, which explains the frequent quakes in the area. Like the Guinayangan Fault, Masbate Fault is also a segment of the PFZ. There are also other potentially active faults in Masbate, including the Uson Fault and Southern Masbate Fault.

Vigan-Aggao Fault

Located in the westernmost part of PFZ, in northern Luzon, is the 140-km Vigan-Aggao Fault. A study published in 2020 showed that the fault has four segments: Santa-Sinait, San Juan-Vintar, Bacarra-Burgos, and Pagudpud.

Marikina Valley Fault System

Finally, we have the Marikina Valley Fault System, one of the most well-known and feared fault lines in the Philippines. It runs from Doña Remedios Trinidad in Bulacan and ends in Canlubang in Laguna. The active fault system also traverses six cities in Metro Manila and the nearby provinces of Rizal and Laguna.

How is the Philippine fault zone mapped?

This delineation is based on interpretation of available large-scale (at least 1:30,000) aerial photographs. In areas where there are no available aerial photographs, various satellite images are used to map the fault zone. The identified surface traces of the PFZ are then plotted onto 1:50,000 topographic maps published by NAMRIA and compiled using commonly used Geographic Information System (GIS) platforms such as MapInfo Professional and Generic Mapping Tool (GMT). These active faults maps are now available on this website and upon request to PHIVOLCS-DOST (Figure 2: example of active faults map).

What is the PFZ?

The 1,200-km-long Philippine fault zone ( PFZ) is a major tectonic feature that transects the whole Philippine archipelago from northwestern Luzon to southeastern Mindanao. This arc-parallel, left-lateral strike slip fault is divided into several segments and has been the source of large-magnitude earthquakes in recent years, such as the 1973 Ragay Gulf earthquake (M 7.0), 1990 Luzon earthquake (Mw 7.7) (Figure 1), and 2003 Masbate earthquake (Ms 6.2). The high seismic risk posed by this fault zone requires a large-scale active faults map, a fundamental data set for seismic hazard mitigation.

What year was Pinatubo Volcano?

In commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the 1991 Pinatubo Volcano eruption, the world's second largest eruption of the 20th century, the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology held the DOST-PHIVOLCS Infobit: Usapang Bulkang Pinatubo Makalipas ang Tatlumpung Taon webinar on 15 June 2021 via Zoom…

How many DRR representatives are there in the 2021 tsunami?

DRR representatives and DOST-PHIVOLCS staff during the 2021 Tsunami Summit Three hundred (300) representativ es from the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Offices, regional offices of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and Office of Civil Defense (OCD), OCD Central…

When is ECQ 2021 in Manila?

Metro Manila and its surrounding provinces- Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite, and Rizal, were placed under an Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) from 28 March to 11 April 2021. This was due to the sudden spike of confirmed cases in these areas. On 12 April, the ECQ transitioned to a Modified Enhanced Community…

When Did The Philippine Fault Begin To Be Mapped?

The Philippine Fault has been mapped by Kyoto University and PHIVOLCS-DOST since 2003. Approximately 90% of the PFZ’s on-land section has been mapped at this time.

Why Is The Philippines Home To The West Valley Fault?

Each consecutive unit on the scale is 10 times more potent than the one before it. Because it generated alarm among Marikina people, it was nicknamed West Valley Fault during the period of PHIVOLCS Director Raymundo Punongbayan. According to seismologists, if that fault moves, the Taal Volcano might erupt.

When A Fault Line Is Active, What Does It Mean?

If the fault is active yet locked, it is holding energy that will be released during future earthquake occurrences. If the fault is creeping or sliding, however, the likelihood of a large earthquake occurring is low since the fault is continually releasing energy.”

Overview

The Philippine Fault System is a major inter-related system of geological faults throughout the whole of the Philippine Archipelago, primarily caused by tectonic forces compressing the Philippines into what geophysicists call the Philippine Mobile Belt. Some notable Philippine faults include the Guinayangan, Masbate and Leyte faults.

Philippine Mobile Belt

Philippine Fault Zone

Formation

Earthquakes

Other active fault systems

See also

External links

Philippine Mobile Belt

Philippine Fault Zone

Formation

Earthquakes

• The central Philippine Fault Zone consisting of the Guinayangan, Masbate, and Central Leyte faults are the most seismically active regions transecting the islands of Bondoc to Leyte. The northern and southern extensions of the Philippine Fault Zone experience infrequent earthquakes and are often described as locked segments capable of larger earthq...

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Other Active Fault Systems

See Also

External Links