The series of earthquakes in Sipalay City, Negros Occidental, lately are tectonic in nature caused by movements in the Negros Trench, Teresito Bacolcol, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology chief, said Friday, May 23.
They have nothing to do with the restive Kanlaon Volcano, he said.
The Negros Trench is an oceanic trench located northeast of the Sulu Trench and west of the Negros Island Region in the Visayas.
The earthquakes in Sipalay are not unusual “because there are active generators, there are active faults, we have trenches in the western side of Negros. When there is a big earthquake in the Negros Trench, it can be felt in Sipalay,” Bacolcol said.
Successive earthquakes are normal in active trenches, he added.*