M6.8 Earthquake Near Bacong, Philippines, Feb 8, 1990

Map

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

The earthquake

Magnitude: 6.8 (Mw, moment), strong
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Thu, Feb 8, 1990, 3:15 PM GMT+8
UTC: 1990-02-08 07:15:32 UTC
Depth: 25.9 km (16.1 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 9.755° N, 124.694° E
Region: Philippines
Strongest shaking: VI, 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
6.8	Mw, moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed
6.73	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
6.57	Me, energy	Choy, USGS energy magnitude	Reviewed
6.7	Mww, W-phase moment	Duputel, W-phase inversion	Preliminary

Deaths and damage

From NOAA NCEI’s Significant Earthquake Database (record 5222), matched to this event by time and place.

Deaths: 6
Injuries: 300
Damage: $900,000
Houses damaged: 600

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 1990 Bohol earthquake occurred on February 8, 1990, at 15:15:32 (UTC +8) which had a magnitude of 6.8 Mw. The earthquake had a moderate depth of 25.9 km (16 mi). Most of the damage was observed in the province of Bohol. A tsunami hit the southeastern coastline of Bohol and the island of Camiguin. There were 6 deaths, over 200 injuries and an estimated ₱157 million ($7 million) in total damage reported.

Twenty-three years later, a much more devastating 7.2 Mw under the same fault system would strike the island killing 222 individuals.

Text from Wikipedia, “1990 Bohol Sea 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.

What happened

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

Felt (VII RF) on Bohol; (VI) at Cebu; (V) at Cagayan de Oro and on Camiguin; (IV) at Cotabato and (III) at Palo. Also felt on Negros. Two events about 2 seconds apart. Depth from broadband displacement seismograms, based on second event. FAULT PLANE SOLUTION: P-Waves NP1:Strike=32 Dip=62 Slip=55 NP2:Strike=268 Dip=44 Slip=137 Principal Axes: (T) Plg=58 Azm=253 (P) Plg=10 Azm=146 Comment: The focal mechanism is moderately well controlled and corresponds to reverse faulting with a large strike-slip component. The preferred fault plane is not determined. RADIATED ENERGY No. of sta: 6 Focal mech. M Energy 1.8+0.7*10**14 Nm MOMENT TENSOR SOLUTION Dep 21 No. of sta: 14 Moment Tensor; Scale 10**19 Nm Mrr=1.07 Mtt=-1.39 Mff=0.32 Mrt=0.41 Mrf=0.37 Mtf=-0.30 Principal axes: (T) Val=1.25 Plg=69 Azm=287 (N) Val=0.27 Plg=18 Azm=75 (P) Val=-1.53 Plg=10 Azm=169 Best Double Couple:Mo=1.4*10**19 NP1:Strike=280 Dip=38 Slip=120 NP2:Strike=63 Dip=58 Slip=69 CENTROID, MOMENT TENSOR (HRV) Data Used: GDSN L.P.B.: 15S, 43C M.W.: 14S, 34C Centroid Location: Origin Time 07:15:35.9 0.2 Lat 9.79N 0.02 Lon 124.85E 0.02 Dep 16.2 0.9 Half-duration 9.6 Moment Tensor; Scale 10**19 Nm Mrr=1.54 0.03 Mtt=-1.07 0.02 Mff=-0.47 0.02 Mrt=0.43 0.12 Mrf=0.19 0.12 Mtf=-0.56 0.02 Principal Axes: (T) Val=1.61 Plg=81 Azm=340 (N) Val=-0.14 Plg=2 Azm=240 (P) Val=-1.48 Plg=9 Azm=149 Best Double Couple:Mo=1.5*10**19 NP1:Strike=237 Dip=36 Slip=87 NP2:Strike=61 Dip=54 Slip=92

From the USGS event page for usp000456h. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.

Shaking

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

Strongest estimated: VI, strong shaking
Peak ground acceleration: 22.4% of gravity
Peak ground velocity: 3.1 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.

Fault motion and ground failure

How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.

Faulting: Reverse (thrust)
Moment magnitude: 6.7 Mww
Nodal plane 1: Strike 254°, dip 50°, rake 120°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 31°, dip 47°, rake 58°

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 3.8 and up: 33 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.

After

Before

4.916 km ENE of Bacong, PhilippinesWed, Feb 7, 2:02 PM GMT+8 · 13386 days ago · 61 km deep · 4 km away

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000456h (also filed as choy19900208071532, gcmt19900208071532, duputel020890a, atlas19900208071533, iscgem377912). Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 6:37 AM UTC.