Philippine Trench

The Philippine Trench (also called the Philippine Deep, Mindanao Trench, and the Mindanao Deep) is a submarine trench to the east of the Philippines. The trench is located in the Philippine sea of the western North Pacific Ocean and continues NNW-SSE.^[1] It has a length of approximately 1,320 kilometres (820 miles) and a width of about 30 km (19 mi) from the center of the Philippine island of Luzon trending southeast to the northern Maluku island of Halmahera in Indonesia. At its deepest point, the trench reaches 10,540 meters (34,580 ft or 5,760 fathoms).^[2]

1988

1982

1975

1995

2012

1952

1911

1989

1991

1921

1943

2001

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A sample of 10 large earthquakes ≥ 7.2 M_w near the Philippine Trench within the last 100 years: in 1911,^[3] 1921,^[4] 1943,^[5] 1952,^[6] 1975,^[7] 1982,^[8] 1988,^[9] 1989,^[10] 1991,^[11] 1995,^[12] 2001,^[13] and 2012^[14] with the last being the 2012 Samar earthquake. See also map below.

Immediately to the north of the Philippine Trench is the East Luzon Trench. They are separated, with their continuity interrupted and displaced, by Benham Plateau on the Philippine Sea Plate.^[2]