Philippines earthquakes

M5.4 earthquake 53 km ENE of Pilar, Philippines

A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck 53 km ENE of Pilar, Philippines on Wed, Nov 15, 1989, 1:39 AM GMT+8 (17:39 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M6.2 50 km ENE of Pilar, Philippines. This one was a foreshock.

San Jose forecast More in Philippines

Map

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

Open the live map with earthquakes

The earthquake

Magnitude: 5.4 (Mw, moment), moderate
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Wed, Nov 15, 1989, 1:39 AM GMT+8
UTC: 1989-11-14 17:39:33 UTC
Depth: 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 10.116° N, 126.521° E
Region: Philippines
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
5.4	Mw, moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed
5.32	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
5.3	Mwc, centroid moment	Global CMT project	Preliminary

What happened

The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.

CENTROID, MOMENT TENSOR (HRV) Data Used: GDSN L.P.B.: 10S, 19C Centroid Location: Origin Time 17:39:33.9 0.7 Lat 9.99N 0.15 Lon 126.39E 0.21 Dep 15.0 FIX Half-duration 1.7 Moment Tensor; Scale 10**16 Nm Mrr=2.12 1.04 Mtt=-1.87 0.75 Mff=-0.25 1.53 Mrt=6.46 2.46 Mrf=9.99 1.66 Mtf=-2.03 0.88 Principal Axes: (T) Val=11.99 Plg=50 Azm=295 (N) Val=0.48 Plg=7 Azm=34 (P) Val=-12.47 Plg=39 Azm=130 Best Double Couple:Mo=1.2*10**17 NP1:Strike=266 Dip=9 Slip=142 NP2:Strike=33 Dip=84 Slip=83

From the USGS event page for usp0004214. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.

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

Nearest places

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

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.4 and up: 21 in the 60 days after this one and 5 in the 30 days before it.

After

Before

Earthquakes today Philippines earthquakes Live radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0004214 (also filed as gcmtb111489d, gcmt19891114173933, iscgem386945). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 2:27 AM UTC.