USGS Earthquake Feed

The October 10, 2025, M 7.4 earthquake off the east coast of the island of Mindanao, Philippines occurred as a result of oblique reverse faulting. Focal mechanism solutions indicate that rupture occurred on either a moderately-dipping, south-southeast striking reverse fault with a component of left-lateral strike-slip or a moderately-dipping northeast striking reverse fault with a component of right-lateral strike-slip. At the location of the earthquake, the Philippine Sea plate subducts west-northwest with respect to the Sunda plate at a velocity of approximately 100 mm/yr.

While commonly plotted as points on maps, earthquakes the size of the October 10, 2025, event are more appropriately described as slip over a larger fault area. Earthquakes of this magnitude are typically about 75x30 km (length x width).

As is common with most subduction zone plate boundaries, the Philippines frequently experiences moderate to large earthquakes. 155 other earthquakes of M6 or larger have occurred over the past century within 250 km of October 10, 2025, earthquake, including 15 other M7+ earthquakes. Earthquakes in the Philippines region exhibit diverse styles of faulting that are indicative of the locally complex tectonic motions. Moreover, this region experiences earthquakes across a range of depths, from shallow surface rupturing strike-slip earthquakes, to deep earthquakes located within subducting oceanic slabs.