Magnitude 5.3 Earthquake Hit in Mindanao, Philippines

- Time: 2024-03-01 at 09:29:02 UTC
              2024-03-01 at 17:29:02 GMT-8
- Location: 8.82° LAT, 126.70° LON
- Magnitude: Mww5.3
- Depth: 35 km
- Provider:USGS

Picture 1: Location of the magnitude 5.3 earthquake in Mindanao, Philippines.

The earthquake occurred due to the rotational singularity (marked with ellipses) that is present in the Philippines. We posted about it on January 23, 2024, and is accessible here.

Rotational singularity can occur when the fault planes are "infinitely" close to each other or the theoretically infinite shear- and normal tractions are associated with finite (micro) rotations within infinitely small regions (volumes of rocks). In practice, this happens when tectonic waves with low Cosserat lengths (generally) interact with each other within a region. Its shape can be elongated (like e.g. before the Great Noto Earthquake in Japan) or circular.

Picture 2: Post about rotational singularity influencing earthquake triggering in Mindanao, Philippines.

The earthquake also occurred on one of the D-waves we highlighted on February 27, 2024, as shown in the image below and here.

D-waves (D stands for Dangerous) are potentially dangerous tectonic waves due to the elevated seismic activity along these waves, including major seismic event and their contribution to the elevation of tectonic tractions (shear- and dynamic traction) in multiple regions worldwide.

Picture 3: Regions exposed to higher earthquake-triggering based on the D-wave, posted on February 27, 2024.

The earthquake occurred in an area where we announced HIGH seismic hazard exposure (orange alert) in our latest weekly earthquake forecast for Indonesia and the Philippines region, on February 26, 2024, available here.

Picture 4: Latest earthquake forecast for Indonesia and the Philippines region, posted on February 26, 2024.

There have been no reports of damage, injuries, or casualties as a result of the earthquake so far.

* The exact information about the magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the earthquake might be revised within the next few hours as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other data providers issue their reports. 
** The information provided is a product of Quantectum's own system, please tag Quantectum when sharing it. For more detailed information, contact us by email.