June 21, 1893 Earthquake: Agusan River, E Mindanao, Philippines

1893, June 21, 14:50 [local time], intensity X. Disastrous earthquake in the Agusan River Valley. The fact that there was no general destruction of buildings with heavy loss of life is due solely to the circumstance that the region affected contained only structures of bamboo and nipa. The effects of the convulsions on the topography of the region give an idea of what the consequences of the quake might have been had it found another class of buildings. There are indications that in the southern part of the valley an area of many square kilometers subsided to a considerable extent. Repetitions were frequent throughout an entire year. (reference #1072)

1893, June 21, 06:50 UTC, Philippines, E. Mindanao, Agusan River Valley, intensity III which corresponds to an earthquake which destroyed towns and devastated districts. (reference #1055)

1893, June 21, 3:30 p.m., 6.88 N, 125.83 E, intensity X. Mindanao and southern Visayas: Jativa, Davao - almost completely ruined inspite of the absence of masonry houses. Large number of houses (bamboo) collapsed and some wooden houses ruined. House posts broken off at the ground. Impulses from SW were so strong that they forced the ground to the NE. Long wide cracks opened in the town and the surrounding country. Near the river, the ground dropped 1.7 meters in some places. The oscillations continued almost without a break for 30 minutes. Davao - preceded by loud noise from N to S; oscillations of great force; statues and tabernacle thrown down in the church; window shades thrown from their grooves; small cracks in walls. Clavijo - town completely ruined and the soft soil so torn up by water that it is impossible to rebuild. In front of the town, the river had been dammed by tree trunks and abandoned rafts so that only two small channels were left open; these were blocked by the caving banks and the river flooded the surrounding land. Talacogon - great damage in the rectory; statues overthrown in the church; houses damaged; land sank along the river bank; waves in the river like a squally sea; many aftershocks. (reference #1187)

1893, June 21. intensity X. Agusan, disastrous. (reference #1058)