September 20, 1897 Earthquake: Dapitan, NW Mindanao, Philippines
A magnitude 8.6 earthquake struck Dapitan, NW Mindanao, Philippines on September 20, 1897 at 19:06 UTC, 33 km below the surface. It caused a tsunami.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- September 20, 1897
- Time
- 19:06 UTC
- Place
- Dapitan, NW Mindanao, Philippines
- Magnitude
- 8.6 (Ms)
- Focal depth
- 33 km (21 mi)
- Intensity
- 7 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 6.000° N, 122.000° E
- Country
- Philippines
The toll
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
- Houses damaged
- Few (about 1 to 50)
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.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
Reference #414:
1897, Sept. 21, 3:13 [local time; Sept 20, 1897, 19:13 UTC]. There was an earthquake, which was felt with a force of 7 degrees (VIII Rossi-Forel) in the northeastern part of the Sulu archipelago, and with a force of 6 degrees (VII) on the islands of Mindanao and Jolo. The size of the area of perceptibility was 600 x 500 km. Numerous aftershocks occurred.
Reference #1072:
1897, Sept. 21, 3:10 local time. Intensity VII. It produced fissures in the ground and slightly injured buildings in the district of Dapitan. More than 30 aftershocks of varying intensity were recorded during the next 10 hours.
Reference #88:
1897, Sept. 20, 19:06 UTC, 6 N, 122 E, shallow depth, magnitude 8.6.
Reference #1006:
1897, Sept. 20, 19:06 UTC, 6 N, 122 E, shallow depth, magnitude 8.6.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
More
Significant earthquakes of 1897The 1800sRecent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 2519.