FOLLOWING the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that shook Cebu on Sept. 30, 2025, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) is reporting welcome news: the province's ground is quieting down.
The daily number of aftershocks has plummeted from thousands in the quake's immediate aftermath to hundreds now, according to Phivolcs Director Teresito Bacolcol.
The first 24 hours after the main quake produced 1,853 aftershocks. By Oct. 28, that number had fallen to 145, most of them minor tremors that residents barely noticed.
"This decrease in number per day is expected. Most of these are small and not felt," Bacolcol said on Wednesday, Oct. 29.
The reprieve comes as a relief to residents still recovering from the Sept. 30 earthquake, which claimed more than 70 lives and damaged about 700 structures.
Bacolcol said the pattern is natural. Aftershocks should continue through December but gradually taper to 20 to 40 per day as the newly identified Bogo Bay Fault settles after the main rupture.
Scientists discovered the fault -- previously unmapped and the onshore extension of an offshore fault -- through field surveys that revealed ground rupture evidence. The Phivolcs Quick Response Team correlated the plotted epicenter and the orientation of aftershocks with satellite images, then validated the fault trace on the ground by walking along it and documenting surface rupture.
For residents enduring the quake's aftermath, the steady decline in tremors signals that nature is following its course. / DPC