PHIVOLCS OPEN-FILE REPORT 18-01

PHIVOLCS Open-file Report No. 18-01

Interseismic Deformation and Horizontal

Displacements Associated with the
February 15, 2003 Masbate Earthquake
Teresito Bacolcol, Agnes Aguilar, Robinson Jorgio, and Ronald de la Cruz

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Bacolcol et.al.: Interseismic deformation and horizontal displacements...
PHIVOLCS Open-File Report No.18-01

Interseismic deformation and horizontal displacements

associated with the February 15, 2003 Masbate Earthquake

Teresito Bacolcol, Agnes Aguilar, Robinson Jorgio, and Ronald de la Cruz

Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS)

PHIVOLCS Bldg, CP Garcia Avenue, University of the
Philippines Campus, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines

Abstract Global Positioning System (GPS) INTRODUCTION

surveys were used to determine the interseismic
and the horizontal deformations within the An Ms=6.2 earthquake struck the province of
epicentral region of the 15 February 2003 Masbate Masbate at 7:01 pm local time (11H01 GMT) of
earthquake along the Philippine Fault in Masbate 15 February 2003. PHIVOLCS located the
Island. Interseismic deformations include the epicenter at 12.2°N, 123.8°E, along the Masbate
results of the GPS campaigns done between segment of the Philippine Fault zone. Its depth
February 1991 and February 2002 while the was estimated to be 22 kilometers. The focal
horizontal displacements associated with the mechanism solution showed a left-lateral slip
earthquake include the readings done a year before along a vertical NW-SE fault plane (PHIVOLCS,
and within 6 months after the main shock. 2003). Several surface rupture displacements were
mapped out on the island along the fault, the
Interseismic data taken between 1991 and 2002 maximum of which is 47 cm. Although there were
showed that the Philippine Fault in the region has no casualties, numerous buildings and
a slip rate equal to about 2.3 + 1.1 cm/yr. Elastic establishments were damaged and destroyed.
elongation along the fault was also observed prior
to the quake. The Masbate segment is one of the more active
segments of the Philippine Fault that transect the
GPS readings taken a year before and within the archipelago (Bischke, et. al., 1990; Aurelio, 1992).
six months after the main shock showed that as Prior to the 2003 seismic event, two other
much as 62 cm parallel to the fault was displaced moderate-magnitude earthquakes were plotted
along the Philippine Fault near the epicenter of the along this segment since 1971 (Fig. 1).
earthquake and that 10 centimeters of this
represented the afterslip movement of the fault. To study the mechanical behavior of the
GPS data taken during this interval also showed an Philippine Fault in Masbate, a GPS survey
off-shore displacement during the quake. network was established in the region (Bacolcol,
_________________________ 2003; 2005). This network (Fig. 2) is composed of
8 GPS points initially installed and surveyed in
This report to be cited as:
1991. Five more points were added into the
Bacolcol T., Aguilar, A, Robinson, J and de la Cruz, R. 2005. network during the succeeding campaigns in 1995
Interseismic deformation and horizontal displacements associated and in 1997, including the two points in Iloilo and
with the February 15, 2003 Masbate Earthquake. PHIVOLCS
Open-File Report No. 18-01, 8 pages. Virac islands (not shown in Fig. 2). Point L,
situated on the SW coast of Bicol Peninsula was
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added during the campaign in February 2002, conducted in order to reposition several GPS
bringing the total number of points in the Masbate benchmarks of the network, which might have
network to 14. been affected as a result of this seismic event.
Moreover, the survey was also intended to
In late October 2003, six months after the 15 quantify and characterize the horizontal
February 2003 earthquake, another survey was displacements associated with the earthquake.

Figure 1. The Masbate segment of the Philippine Fault with its seismicity since 1971 shown
(data from USGS-NEIC) .

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Figure 2. Location of the GPS points in Masbate network. Points A to H were established in
1991 while the points I, J, K and L were installed during the succeeding campaigns.Two other
points included in the network are not shown in the figure.

GPS DATA ACQUISITION AND frequency receivers. In this campaign, each point
PROCESSING was occupied for 5 hours and at 15/30 seconds
recording interval. During the February 2002
Prior to the February 15, 2003 seismic event, five campaign, each point was occupied for 72 hours
GPS campaigns were conducted on the Masbate and at a recording frequency interval of 30
network from February 1991 to February 2002. seconds using 6 TRIMBLE 4000SSI bi-frequency
For this paper however, we only used the longest receivers.
interval from February 1992 to February 2002 to
characterize the interseismic behavior of the The post-seismic survey was done six months after
Philippine Fault in Masbate. the mainshock, on the later part of October 2003,
using 5 TRIMBLE 4000 SSI bi-frequency
During the initial campaign in February 1991, receivers. During this survey, just like in the
GPS data were gathered using 4 ASHTECH bi- February 2002 campaign, each baseline was

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measured twice for 72 hours with a recording Results from the interseismic data (Bacolcol,
frequency interval of 30 seconds. 2005) showed that the Philippine Fault in Masbate
has an average slip rate of 2.2 + 0.2 cm/yr at an
The GPS data were processed with the Bernese azimuth of N323° (average velocities of points C,
GPS Software V4.0 (Rotchacher, M. and Mervart, D and F).
1996) using precise orbits, and following the
procedures described in Bacolcol (2003, 2005). POST-SEISMIC SURVEY

INTER-SEISMIC DEFORMATION Figure 4 shows the displacement vectors of the

points in the Masbate network between February
Figure 3 and Table 1 show interseismic 2002, exactly one year before, and October 2003,
deformation between February 1991 to February six months after the Ms=6.2 earthquake. Point J,
2002, prior to the 15 February 2003 earthquake. situated on the southwestern-most part of the

Figure 3. Velocity vectors for the interval February 1991- February 2002, computed from
geodetic data. Error ellipses in the order of millimeters are not shown for they are not
visible. All measurements are made relative to the center of gravity, point E (star).

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Table 1. Displacements as well as the slip rates of points from February 1991 to February 2002, calculated with
respect to point E (Bacolcol, 2005).

POINT X (m) Y (m) Δ X (m) Δ Y (m) Velocity (m/yr) Direction (°)

A 525021.74 1419201.33 -0.303 0.192 0.032+ 0.002 302

B 543124.39 1382763.05 -0.127 -0.025 0.011+ 0.002 258
C 565120.23 1393069.68 -0.250 0.216 0.030+ 0.002 310
D 579145.79 1371235.82 -0.147 0.183 0.021+ 0.002 321
E 567763.72 1367701.93 0 0 0 0
F 600494.09 1342863.70 -0.053 0.152 0.014+ 0.002 340
G 586163.74 1346436.18 0.008 0.020 0.002+ 0.002 23
H 588542.38 1350047.38 0.001 0.064 0.005+ 0.002 1

Figure 4. Displacement vectors for the interval February 2002-October 2003, computed
from geodetic data. All measurements are made relative to point J (star).The epicenter as
well as the focal mechanism for the 15 February 2003 earthquake is likewise shown.
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network, is the farthest point away from the accuracy is equal to 1.1 cm/yr. North of points F,
epicenter of the 2003 earthquake, and is therefore the two points located in Ticao island, points C
the least likely to be affected by coseismic and D, are displaced by about 8.0 cm (4.9 cm/yr,
displacements. All displacement values are N316°) and 7.4 cm (4.4 cm/yr, N289°)
therefore measured relative to it. respectively. Point L, first established and
measured in 2002, moved by about 9.6 cm (or
In general, all points located northeast of the about 5.7 cm/yr) with an azimuth of about N306°.
Philippine Fault showed horizontal displacements In Burias island, point A is displaced by about 6.6
in the NW directions, generally parallel to the cm (4.0 cm/yr) towards N199°.
fault. On the other hand, most of the points
situated on the southwestern side of the fault, On the southwestern side, points E, B, I and K
except for points I and K, have SE-directed have weak, almost negligible displacements
movements (Fig. 4 and Table 2). relative to point J (less than 1 cm for points B and
I; less than 4 cm for points E and K).
The results further show that point F, which is
located nearest to the epicenter, has the biggest Points G and H are displaced by about 12 and 26
displacement, 37 cm (or a slip rate equivalent to cm respectively. These two points have almost
21.6 cm/yr) during the interval 2002-2003 with an identical azimuth directions of about N138°.
azimuth of about N321°. The calculated slip rate

Table 2. Displacements as well as slip rates of points from February 2002 to October 2003 calculated with respect to
point J.

POINT X (m) Y (m) Δ X (m) Δ Y (m) Velocity (m/yr) Direction (°)

A 525021.65 1419201.32 -0.064 -0.022 0.040+ 0.011 199

B 543124 13827 -0.005 0.002 0.003+ 0.011 155

C 565120. 1393069.75 -0.060 0.056 0.049+ 0.011 316

D 579145. 1371235.82 -0.024 -0.015 0.044+ 0.011 289

E 567763.72 1367701.93 0.024 -0.015 0.017+ 0.011 147

F 600493.78 1342863.94 -0.283 0.2240 0.216+ 0.011 321

G 586163.81 1346436.11 0.086 -0.082 0.071+ 0.011 136

H 588542.56 1350047.23 0.196 -0.173 0.157+ 0.011 138

I 555313.51 1351443.48 -0,001 0,007 0.004+ 0.011 265

J 520975.96 1330984.98 0 0 0 0

K 614368.52 1313910.24 -0.027 -0.027 0.021+ 0.011 219

L 595769.35 1400512.50 -0.057 0.077 0.057+ 0.011 306

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DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS that SW of Masbate is a rigid or a semi-rigid

block.
Results from the post-seismic GPS survey
following the M6.2 15 February 2003 earthquake If we compare the directions of the displacements
in Masbate were compared with the results from of the points G and H situated along the western
the interseismic GPS surveys conducted between side of the Philippine Fault, we would notice that
1991 and 2002 in order to quantify the horizontal their movements are directed opposite the
displacements associated with this seismic event. directions of points on the right side of the
As much as 37 centimeters NW-directed Philippine Fault (F, D, C and L). This is clearly
horizontal displacement was observed on point F the result of elastic rebound, that is, the sudden
near the epicenter of the earthquake. Conversely, relaxation of strain along the fault during an
on the other side of the fault, point H showed a earthquake. Farther north, the two other points B
SE-directed displacement of about 25 centimeters, and E are also slightly affected by this elastic
bringing the total to about 62 centimeters. This relaxation.
value would represent the total displacement
released by the Philippine Fault between February An important question would be: Did the rupture
2002 and October 2003. mapped out on-shore by the PHIVOLCS Quick
Response Team just after the earthquake extend
PHIVOLCS (2003) reported that the largest towards the NW off-shore trace of the Philippine
surface rupture that was mapped out during a field Fault? If we calculate the slip rates of points C and
investigation conducted days after the earthquake D with respect to point E during the interval
was about 47 centimeters, near point F. If we February 2002 to October 2003 and compare these
subtract this value (assuming that this 47-cm with the interseismic slip rates calculated for the
rupture would represent the co-seismic same points (see Table 3), we could clearly see a
displacement) and again subtract 2.3 cm (which sudden jump of slip rates for all points. The
would represent the one year displacement changes in point C (6.7 cm/yr from 3.0 cm/yr) and
between February 2002 and February 2003 as point D (5.9 cm/yr from 2.1 cm/yr), would indeed
calculated from interseismic data) from the total support the idea that rupture extended offshore of
displacement measured by the GPS, we would the Philippine Fault in Masbate Bay. This is also
arrive at a value of about 10 cm. This 10 cm would supported by after-shocks data plotted revealing
represent the afterslip movement of the Philippine high seismicity off-shore of Masbate island
Fault in Masbate between February 2003 and (PHIVOLCS, 2003).
October 2003, six months after the earthquake.

Again, if we look at the interseismic deformation Table 3. Comparison of slip rates for points F, C and D
of the Philippine Fault in Masbate (Fig. 3), we between intervals 1991-2002 and 2002-2003, calculated
would notice a gradient of deformation of the with respect to point E.
points found on the northeastern part of the fault
(points F, D and C). This gradient of deformation
POINT 1991-2002 (cm/yr) 2002-2003 (cm/yr)
could have been the result of an elastic elongation
of the fault before it finally reaches its elastic limit
and eventually snapped in 2003. F 1.4 23.41

C 3.0 6.7
From the data taken between 2002-2003, points K
and I (including points B and E), located SW of D 2.1 5.9
Masbate Island, showed weak, almost negligible
displacements with respect to point J. This implies

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

We thank the Philippine Institute of Volcanology

and Seismology and the French Embassy in
Manila for the financial support they extended
during the interseismic campaigns as well the
office of the National Disaster Coordinating
Council (NDCC) for providing the funding for the
post-seismic survey. We also thank Ms. Ma. Lynn
Melosantos for her help in editing the article.

REFERENCES

Aurelio, M., 1992. Tectonique du segment central

de la faille philippine, étude structurale,
cinématique et évolution géodynamique.
Thèse de doctorat, Univ. Paris 6, 500 p.

Bacolcol, T., 2003. Etudes geodesiques de la faille

philippine a partir des donnees GPS, Thèse de
Doctorat d’état, Université Pierre et Marie
Curie.

Bacolcol, T., Aguilar, A., Jorgio, G., de la Cruz,

R., Lasala, M., 2005. GPS constraints on the
Philippine fault slip rate in Masbate Island,
Central Philippines. Journal of the Geological
Society of Philippines 60.

Biscke, R.E., Suppe, J., and del Pilar, R., 1990. A

new branch of the Philippine Fault system
as observed from aeromagnetic and
seismic data. Tectonophysics, 183, 1-4, 243-
264.

PHIVOLCS Quick Response Team, 2003. The 15

February 2003 Masbate Earthquake Report of
Investigation, unpublished report. 20p.

Rotchacher, M. and Mervart, L. (editors), 1996.

Documentation of the Bernese GPS Software
Version 4.0. University of Berne, 415p.