List of disasters in the Philippines

This is a list of disasters in the Philippines.

Volcanic eruptions

Event	Date	Notes
Leonard Kniaseff	c.120 AD.	There was a scare in 1995 but PHIVOLCS investigation at the time did not disclose any unusual activity, and no unusual activity has been reported since.
San Pablo Volcanic Field	1350 AD +/- 100	Last activity was the formation of Sampaloc Lake around 1350 AD +/- 100 years determined by anthropology
Taal eruption	1572 to 2022	Currently on eruption since January 12, 2020. Eruptions have also destroyed numerous lakeside towns, burying them with volcanic ash or submerged them by rising lake waters displaced by the erupted material. The towns of Lipa, Taal, Sala, Bauan and Tanauan were formerly located along Taal Lake. Presently, only three towns are on the lake's shore. Remnants of the old lakeside towns are reported to be seen under the lake's waters.
Mayon eruption	1616 to 2018	The most destructive eruption of Mayon occurred on February 1, 1814 (VEI=4). Lava flowed but not as much compared to the 1766 eruption; Instead, the volcano was belching dark ash and eventually bombarded the town of Cagsawa with tephra that buried it. Trees were burned; rivers were certainly damaged. Proximate areas were also devastated by the eruption, with ash accumulating to 9 m (30 ft) in depth. In Albay, a total of 2,200 locals perished in what is considered to be the most lethal eruption in Mayon's history; estimates by PHIVOLCS list the casualties at about 1,200, however. The eruption is believed to have contributed to the accumulation of atmospheric ash,^{[citation needed]} capped by the catastrophic eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815, that led to the Year Without a Summer in 1816.
Pinatubo eruption	1500 to 2021	Reawakened in 1991 producing the 2nd largest eruption in the 20th century. Followed by milder eruptions in 1992 and 1993.
Mt. Kanlaon eruption	1886 to 2024	The most active volcano in the Visayas, Kanlaon has erupted 26 times since 1919. Eruptions are typically phreatic explosions of small-to-moderate size that produce minor ash falls near the volcano. In 1902, the eruption was classified as strombolian, typified by the ejection of incandescent cinder, lapilli and lava bombs.
Bulusan eruption	1886 to 2022	Bulusan is generally known for its sudden steam-driven or phreatic explosions. It has erupted 16 times since 1885 and is considered as the 4th most active volcano in the Philippines after Mayon, Taal, and Kanlaon. There are evacuation procedures in place for parts of the peninsula, the farms nearest the volcano are evacuated, and many of the village schools are closed if it is considered possible that a more destructive eruption could occur.
Mt. Hibok-Hibok eruption	1827, 1862, 1871 and 1948–1952	On February 16, 1871, earthquakes and subterranean rumblings began to be felt in Camiguin, which increased in severity until April 30 when a volcanic fissure opened up 400 yards southwest of the village of Catarman, on the northwest flank of the Hibok-Hibok Volcano. From the opening, lava was continuously ejected and poured into the sea for four years destroying the town. At the same time, the vent started gaining in height and width thus forming Mt. Vulcan. In 1875, the Challenger expedition visited the area, and described the mountain as a dome, about 1,950 feet (590 m) in height, without any crater, but still smoking and incandescent at the top.

Earthquakes

The table below is a tally of the ten most deadly recorded earthquakes in the Philippines since the 1600s:

18th century

An intensity VII struck Lake Bombon (now known as Taal Lake) on September 24, 1716. It was connected with the eruption of Taal volcano; the constant volcanic activity in the area of Taal caused seismic movements.
An intensity IX struck Tayabas (now known as Quezon) in 1730. It had ruined the churches and convent in Mauban and several other churches in the province of Tayabas and Laguna.

19th century

An earthquake on June 3, 1863, destroyed the Manila Cathedral, the Ayuntamiento (City Hall), the Governor's Palace (all three located at the time on Plaza Mayor, now Plaza de Roma) and much of the city. The residence of the Governor-General was moved to Malacañang Palace located about 3 km (1.9 miles) up the Pasig River, while the other two buildings were rebuilt in place.
An intensity X struck Luzon on July 14–24, 1880. The quake caused severe damage to these major cities in Luzon, most significantly in Manila where a lot of buildings collapsed. Number of casualties are unknown.
A quake struck Lucban, Quezon on October 26, 1884. It destroyed churches in Lucban and Cavinti in Laguna province.

Ten deadliest recorded earthquakes in the Philippines since the 1600s
Magnitude		Origin	Location	Date	Mortality	Missing	Injured	Damages	Source
1	7.9	Tectonic	Moro Gulf	August 16, 1976	4791	2288	9928
2	7.8	Tectonic	Luzon Island	July 16, 1990	1621	1000	More than 3000	₱10 billion
3	7.5	Tectonic	Luzon Island	November 30, 1645	More than 600		More than 3000	Unknown
4	7.3	Tectonic	Casiguran, Aurora	August 2, 1968	271		261
5	7.2	Tectonic	Bohol & Cebu	October 15, 2013	222	8	796	₱4 billion (est.)
6	7.1	Tectonic	Mindoro	November 15, 1994	78		430	₱5.15 million
7	6.7	Tectonic	Negros Oriental	February 6, 2012	51	62	112	₱383 million
8	7.8	Tectonic	Panay (Lady Caycay)	January 25, 1948	50 (est)			₱7 million
9	Unknown	Tectonic	Manila	June 19, 1665	19			Unknown
10	6.5	Tectonic	Laoag	August 17, 1983	16		47
11	7.5	Tectonic	Mindanao Island	March 5, 2002	15		100

Typhoon

Rank	Storm	Dates of impact	Deaths
1	1881 Haiphong typhoon	1881, September 27–October 6	20,000
2	Haiyan/Yolanda 2013	2013, November 7–8	6,241
3	Thelma (Uring), 1991	1991, November 2–7	5,956
4	Bopha/Pablo 2012	2012, December 2–9	1,901
5	Angela Typhoon, 1867	1867, September 20–26	1,800
6	Winnie 2004	2004, November 27–30	1,593
7	Fengshen/Frank 2008	2008, June 18–23	1,501
8	Unidentified typhoon	1897, October 7–16	1,500
9	Ike (Nitang), 1984	1984, August 31–September 4	1,492
10	Durian/Reming 2006	2006, November 29–December 1	1,399

Costliest Philippine typhoons
Rank	Names	Dates of impact	PHP	USD	Ref
1	Bopha, (Pablo)	November 25 – December 9, 2012	42.2 billion	1.04 billion
2	Haiyan, (Yolanda)	November 3 – 11, 2013	35.5 billion	809 million
3	Parma, (Pepeng)	October 2 – 10, 2009	27.3 billion	608 million
4	Nesat, (Pedring)	September 26 – 28, 2011	15 billion	333 million
5	Fengshen, (Frank)	June 20 – 23, 2008	13.5 billion	301 million
6	Ketsana, (Ondoy)	September 25 – 27, 2009	11 billion	244 million
7	Mike, (Ruping)	November 10 – 14, 1990	10.8 billion	241 million
8	Angela, (Rosing)	October 30 – November 4, 1995	10.8 billion	241 million
9	Flo, (Kadiang)	October 2 – 6, 1993	8.75 billion	195 million
10	Megi (Juan)	October 18 – 21, 2010	8.32 billion	193 million

Volcanic eruptions

Earthquakes

18th century

19th century

Typhoon

See also