On Thursday Evening a Significant M5.2 Earthquake struck near San Francisco in The Philippines.

Written by Earthquakelist.org on December 26th, 2024. Last updated December 27th, 2024.

In the evening of Thursday December 26th, 2024, a significant MAG-5.2 earthquake hit under land 12 kilometer from San Francisco in The Philippines.

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Earthquake Summary

The earthquake struck on land in The Philippines, 12 kilometer (7 mi) south-east of San Francisco in Caraga. The center of this earthquake had a quite shallow depth of 59 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Dec 26, 2024 06:26PM (Manila Time) - Dec 26, 2024 10:26 Universal Time.
Location:	12 km SE of San Francisco, Caraga, The Philippines. Coordinates 8°26'50"N 126°1'10"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.2 Detected by 36 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.095 .
Depth:	59 km (36 mi) A quite shallow depth.
Tsunami Risk:	Tsunami very unlikely While this was a shallow earthquake in a coastal area, it appears to have occurred under land (16 km from the sea) with a magnitude that is usually not strong enough to cause tsunami's. Always stay cautious - More info here.

Nearby towns and cities

This earthquake may have been felt in The Philippines . The closest significant population center near the earthquake is San Francisco in Caraga, The Philippines. San Francisco is located 12 kilometer (7 mi) south-east of the epicenter.

Major cities near this earthquake: Davao is located 159 km to the south-southwest. Budta is located 222 km to the southwest. Malingao is located 222 km to the southwest.

An overview of nearby towns and cities is available in the overview below.

Overview of nearby places

Shaking reported by 15 people

People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 15 people have reported shaking in 13 places, all within Philippines.We keep updating this article as more ground reports become available. You may report that you felt this earthquake here.

Places with most reports:

• Bislig, Caraga, Philippines: 2 people.
• Barra, Northern Mindanao, Philippines: 2 people.
• Bahbah, Caraga, Philippines: 1 person.
• Barobo, Caraga, Philippines: 1 person.
• Calaitan, Caraga, Philippines: 1 person.
• Maygatasan, Caraga, Philippines: 1 person.
• Sumpong, Northern Mindanao, Philippines: 1 person.
• Canocotan, Southern Mindanao, Philippines: 1 person.
• Davao, Southern Mindanao, Philippines: 1 person.
• Katangawan, Southern Mindanao, Philippines: 1 person.

2 Aftershocks detected

After this earthquake struck, 2 smaller aftershocks occurred. Just 6 hrs after this main shock, an earthquake measuring MAG-3.1 was detected 94 km (58 mi) east of this earthquake.

Before this earthquake struck, 1 smaller foreshock occurred. A 3.5 magnitude earthquake hit 9 hrs earlier nearby.

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

More earthquakes coming?

The risk of aftershocks decreases rapidly over time. Usually, aftershocks are at least one order of magnitude lower than a main shock.

It's always adviced to be cautious of the risk of a larger shock following any significant earthquake, however this risk is fairly small. There is a roughly 94 percent change that no larger main shock will follow in the days following this earthquake.

Earthquakes like this happen often in the region

Earthquakes of this strength are very common in the region. This is the strongest earthquake to hit since August 3rd, 2024, when a 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit 94 km (58 mi) further east-southeast. An even stronger magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck on December 2nd, 2023.

In total, 163 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.2 or higher have been registered within 300km (186 mi) of this epicenter in the past 10 years. This comes down to an average of once every 22 days.

Tsunami very unlikely

While MAG-6.5+ earthquakes may cause tsunami's, it appears that the epicenter of this earthquake hit under land. In addition, the reported depth is deeper than 100km, making the risk of a tsunami even less likely. However always stay cautious and monitor advice from local authorities.

Tsunami Risk Factors

Sources

Last updated 27/12/24 08:48 (). This article contains currently available information about the earthquake and is automatically composed. We continue to update this article up to a few days after the earthquake occurred.

1. US Geographic Society (USGS): Earthquake us6000pfph
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20241226_0000093
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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