Philippines earthquakes

M4.5 earthquake 22 km NE of Cortes, Philippines

A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 22 km NE of Cortes, Philippines on Thu, Mar 5, 1981, 2:36 PM GMT+8 (06:36 UTC), 51 km (32 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.1 10 km E of Talisay, Philippines. This one was a foreshock.

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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
4.5 (mb), light
Local time
UTC
1981-03-05 06:36:36 UTC
Depth
51.1 km (31.8 mi), shallow
Epicenter
9.399° N, 126.357° E
Tsunami flag
No
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

Did you feel it?

No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.

Nearest places

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

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 9 in the 60 days after this one and 5 in the 30 days before it.

After

  1. 5.110 km E of Talisay, Philippines · 16608 days ago · 73 km deep · 85 km away
  2. 5.015 km NE of Pilar, Philippines · 16604 days ago · 58 km deep · 65 km away
  3. 5.152 km ENE of Aras-asan, Philippines · 16601 days ago · 30 km deep · 56 km away
  4. 4.711 km ESE of Union, Philippines · 16600 days ago · 33 km deep · 40 km away
  5. 5.217 km E of Pilar, Philippines · 16599 days ago · 56 km deep · 53 km away
  6. 5.030 km ENE of Pilar, Philippines · 16599 days ago · 50 km deep · 65 km away
  7. 4.328 km NE of Pilar, Philippines · 16599 days ago · 57 km deep · 69 km away
  8. 4.617 km ENE of Bacolod, Philippines · 16584 days ago · 77 km deep · 46 km away
  9. 4.813 km NNE of Gigaquit, Philippines · 16577 days ago · 118 km deep · 77 km away

Before

  1. 4.849 km ENE of Cortes, Philippines · 16655 days ago · 41 km deep · 27 km away
  2. 4.937 km ENE of Cortes, Philippines · 16655 days ago · 56 km deep · 17 km away
  3. 5.256 km ENE of Cortes, Philippines · 16656 days ago · 56 km deep · 34 km away
  4. 5.037 km NE of Cortes, Philippines · 16656 days ago · 57 km deep · 17 km away
  5. 5.653 km NE of Cortes, Philippines · 16656 days ago · 45 km deep · 31 km away

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Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0001chp. Read Mon, Sep 21, 2026, 11:26 AM UTC.