July 18, 1880 Earthquake: Pasig River,pampanga, S Coast Luzon, Philippines

Reference #414: 1880, July 18, 12:40 [local time], 15 N, 121.5 E, magnitude 7.5. There was a destructive earthquake with source near the Pacific coast of the central part of Luzon Is. It was preceded by a destructive foreshock on July l5 and was accompanied by numerous aftershocks, the strongest of which occurred on July 20 and caused fresh destruction as far as Manila.

The intensity of the tremors (in degrees) at different places has also been estimated as follows: 7 in Tayabas Province, in particular the Infanta region, 8-9 on the water divide between Tayabas Province and Rizal and Bulacan Provinces, 7-8 in Nueva Ecija and Rizal Provinces, 7 in Bulacan Province, 6-7 in the provinces of Tarlac, Pampanga and Bataan, on the coast of Bai Lake, up to 6 in Zambales Province, 5-6 in Cavite Province and on Polillo Island, from 7 to 5 from SE to NW in Pangasinan Province, from 6 to 4 from the southeast to northwest in La Union Province, 5 at Lucban, on the western coast of Bai Lake and in Batangas Province, from 4-5 to 3-4 from south to north in Ilocos Province. The earthquake was felt, but without material damage, in the provinces, of Isabela and Cagayan.

The tremors were destructive almost exclusively on soggy loose grounds: along coasts and river valleys, including along the banks of the Rig and Little Pampanga, Pasig and Agno Rivers. Bacolor suffered most of all. At Manila, many buildings were destroyed, mainly in the flood plain of the Pasig River, but not one of them collapsed.

There were huge avalanches in the pleistoseismic area, on the slopes of the Sierra Madre, including at Bongabon. Numerous cracks of different sizes opened up in the ground in the eastern part of the central plain of the island.

The tremors were very strong in the region of Infanta at Binanconan. All three stone structures, the church, the bell tower and the monastery, collapsed completely. The governor's homes, the court and the barracks, built of wood and palm leaves, were so heavily damaged that they had to be abandoned. More than 200 homes of wood and leaves collapsed; only the vertical props in their shattered earth pockets remained of some of them.

Large landslides and settling of the ground occurred along the banks of Puerto Real de Lamon Bay: at Cape Tacloyan and at the settlement of Quinanliman.

Other sources mention that 8 homes built out of light materials sank to one side at Baler during this earthquake. Cracks formed in the walls of stone buildings. An old abandoned tower collapsed. The ground cracked. Water and sand was ejected from the cracks, spoiling the crops. Landslides took place in the mountains. There were many recurrent shocks.

Reference #1072: July 18, 1880, 12:40 [local time], Intensity IX, severe damage. Within the epicentral region of the 3 preceding earthquakes [July 14-20, 1880] which measures 200 km from E to W, severe damage was done to the principal stone buildings. Fortunately the number of victims was not in proportion to the magnitude of the disaster. From the various reports published we conclude that the number of killed did not exceed 20, nor that of the injured 50.

Reference #1058: 1880, July 18. Manila and adjacent provinces, intensity X, very destructive, 20 victims.

Reference #1055: 1880, July 18, 04:40 UTC. Philippines, central and South Luzon (Tayabas, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Bulacan, Bataan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Nueva Eeija, Pangansinan), especially on the banks of River Pasig, the Great and Little Pampanga and the Agno. Intensity III which corresponds to an earthquake which destroyed towns and devastated districts.

Reference #1187: 1880, July 18, 04:40 UTC, 16 N, 121.85 E, intensity X.