[6] The Philippines is usually prone to earthquakes due to its location within the Pacific Ring of Fire, where most of the world's seismological events occur.

[4][5][7] The epicentre of the quake was located 17 km southeast of Tagbilaran City and was due to the rupture of an unknown normal fault line offshore Bohol island.

[3][8] The rupture from the unknown fault that caused tsunami waves reported as high as 2 meters to strike the surrounding islands nearby.

[9][4] Damage was mostly sustained by the Eastern and Southeastern Coastline of Bohol most of which were due to poorly built infrastructure that could not stand such strong movement.

Landslides, Fissures, multiple Mud Volcanoes, and a drastic increase of sea levels were observed in particular places near the epicenter.