Philippines earthquakes

M7.9 earthquake 19 km WNW of Palimbang, Philippines

A magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck 19 km WNW of Palimbang, Philippines on Tue, Aug 17, 1976, 12:11 AM GMT+8 (16:11 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.

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Map

Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 7.9 (Ms, surface-wave), major
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Tue, Aug 17, 1976, 12:11 AM GMT+8
UTC: 1976-08-16 16:11:07 UTC
Depth: 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 6.262° N, 124.023° E
Region: Philippines
Strongest shaking: VII, very strong shaking
Tsunami flag: No
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

Magnitude estimates

Different scales measure different things and differ by a few tenths. The USGS marks one as preferred, and it is the one this page uses.

Mag.	Scale	Computed by	Notes
7.9	Ms, surface-wave	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed
7.96	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
8.0	Mwc, centroid moment	Global CMT project	Preliminary

Deaths and damage

From NOAA NCEI’s Significant Earthquake Database (record 4739), matched to this event by time and place.

Deaths: 1,200; 8,000 with its tsunami and other effects
Injuries: 3,500; 10,000 with its tsunami and other effects
Damage: $134 million

Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA’s full record of this earthquake The tsunami it caused

From Wikipedia

The 1976 Moro Gulf earthquake and tsunami occurred on August 17, 1976, at 00:11 local time near the islands of Mindanao and Sulu, in the Philippines. It measured 8.0 on the moment magnitude scale occurring at a depth of 20 km (12 mi). The earthquake was accompanied by a destructive tsunami that resulted in a majority of the estimated 5,000 to 8,000 fatalities. It was the deadliest earthquake in Philippines history and strongest earthquake in the Philippines in 58 years since the 1918 Celebes Sea earthquake.

Text from Wikipedia, “1976 Moro Gulf earthquake”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted as written; the full article has the rest.

The article is about the earthquake NOAA’s record describes, matched to this one by date, place and magnitude.

Shaking

The USGS ShakeMap: shaking estimated from seismic stations and the quake’s size, on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale.

Strongest estimated: VII, very strong shaking
Peak ground acceleration: 29.7% of gravity
Peak ground velocity: 3.5 cm/s
Map: Automatic

USGS ShakeMap: estimated shaking intensity around the epicenter — Estimated shaking intensity. Map: USGS ShakeMap.

Did you feel it?

No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Depth from: OPERATOR_ASSIGNED
Stations used: 231

Nearest places

Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 4.9 and up: 45 in the 60 days after this one and 0 in the 30 days before it.

After

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Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0000hvb (also filed as gcmtm081676b, gcmt19760816161107, atlas19760816161107, iscgem709878). Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 1:21 AM UTC.