Western Visayas Historic Event: Lady Caycay Earthquake

 

The iconic Jaro Belfry was severely damaged during the 1948 Lady Caycay Earthquake

The 1948 Lady Caycay earthquake was a magnitude 7.8 tremor that struck Panay Island, Philippines, and is considered the second-biggest earthquake in the country's recorded history. The event caused widespread devastation, particularly in Iloilo and Antique, and even triggered a small tsunami. It made a significant impact and effects in the entire Panay Island claiming lives and destroying properties. 

The name "Lady Caycay" comes from the local Hiligaynon and Kinaray-a term caycay, which describes the scratch marks made by chickens. Residents used this term to describe the ground fissures that appeared after the earthquake, especially in the low-lying parts of Iloilo province.

The main shock occurred at 1:46 a.m. PST on January 25, 1948, lasting for up to three minutes. The three-minute shaking causes 55 Spanish period churches to be battered and severely damaged while 17 structures were totally collapsed.

The epicenter was located on the West Panay Fault, near the municipalities of Anini-y and Dao (now Tobias Fornier) in Antique province. The earthquake was caused by the movement of this active fault line. The location of West Panay Fault passes the towns of San Joaquin, Miag-ao, Igbaras, Tubungan, Leon, Alimodian, Janiuay, Lambunao, Tapaz, Jamindan, Sibalom, San Remigio, Valderrama, Libacao, Madalag, Malinao and Pandan.

Early reports approximate the magnitude at 8.2 Ms, but more recently the estimates place the event magnitude at 7.8 Mw. The maximum intensity reached an "Extreme" X on the Mercalli Intensity Scale and a "Devastating" IX on the PEIS (PHIVOLCS Earthquake Intensity Scale).

The main tremor was followed by a series of major aftershocks for nearly a month.

The strong shaking created fissures in the ground up to four meters wide, with some on the coastlines filling with seawater. Landslides, sand blows, and the emergence of a new brook in the town of Cabatuan in Iloilo are just some of aftermaths of that strong earthquake.

A minor tsunami with waves soaring up to two meters high seen along the Iloilo Strait claimed two lives and damaging structures along the coastline. 

The impact of the Lady Caycay earthquake was strongly felt in the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Capiz and Iloilo sustaining severe damages and destroying or heavily damage many bridges, telecommunication lines as well as public and private structures.

A lot of heritage churches during the Spanish period were either heavily damaged or collapsed including:

- The Jaro Metropolitan Cathedral's five-story belfry collapsed to the ground.

- The elegant Gothic-Neoclassical Byzantine Ottoman influenced Oton church was severely damaged and eventually demolished.

- Some belfries in places like the town of San Joaquin and Iloilo City district of Arevalo was also toppled to the ground.

- The UNESCO World Heritage site, the Miag-ao church whose sturdy buttresed walls withstood the tremors was only one of the few exceptions.

A magnitude 8.2 earthquake, referred to locally as the "Lady Caycay earthquake," struck southwest of Panay Island on January 25, 1948, at 1:46 am Philippine Time.  The aforementioned second-strongest earthquake in Philippine history had the greatest effects on the province of Iloilo and other parts of the island.  The old Oton Church had to be dismantled because it was so badly damaged.  Jaro Cathedral's five-story belfry also fell.  The magnificent Oton church, one of the most exquisite buildings on Panay Island and part of the Spanish architectural legacy in the Philippines, sustained some damage.

The majority of the major damage discovered during the inquiry was in the province of Iloilo, notably in churches that still stand from the Spanish era.  In general, there was significant damage to public and private buildings, bridges, and communication cables.

Along the Iloilo Strait, a 6.5-foot (2-meter) tsunami was reported to have struck the coastlines of Guimaras and Southern Iloilo.  Two people were killed in the incident.

The islands of Negros, Guimaras, and Panay had strong intensity. 

Sources:

#ThrowbackEarthquakeInfo by Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS-DOST) Official Facebook Page, dated January 25, 2024 -https://www.facebook.com/PHIVOLCS/posts/pfbid02xtLt8xPQFbV9cxuBKqGCneWPe4DuXDYHUjFnjjP1xyLSH1FBF17PWtowuvtHM4mol

Iloilo City Government Official Facebook Page post, dated April 2, 2025 - https://www.facebook.com/iloilocitygov/photos/dyk-on-january-25-1948-a-magnitude-82-earthquake-which-local-folks-dubbed-the-la/1068944321934908/

Calamities In The 19th Century

The latter half of the 19^th century can be described as literally disastrous in the history of Alimodian. Many natural disturbances came to stir the serenity of life in the quiet town causing damage to property and loss of life.

In December 1851 rain and gusty winds ravaged the community for one week. The rivers were flooded and large trees were uprooted and found their way from the banks of the river to the plains below. There was no official record as to the number of casualties.

In May 1866 another typhoon found its way to Alimodian and surrounding towns. This typhoon was assured a place in the town’s history as it was during its full blast when a lightning struck the giant cross on top of the belfry of the newly built church, thus toppling it to the ground. On June 29, 1869 a strong tremor jolted the church. As it was the feast day of St. Peter and St. Paul, the pious had flocked to the church at the 7:00 o’clock mass. In the commotion that ensued many suffered broken limbs.

On April 25, 1877, 17 houses of bamboos were razed to the ground at about 1:00 pm. An old woman was caught in the fire and several families were rendered homeless.

July and August 1877 proved to be typhoon-infested months. Many trees were uprooted when the river was flooded with turbulent waters from upper regions.

The rains in these months exhausted nature’s supply because from September 1877 to May 1878, not a drop fell from the heavens. The people suffered nearly ten months of arid climate and searing heat and all crops withered. No harvest came in 1878. The year was a year of hunger, disease and death.

At eight in the evening of March 1, 1878, a conflagration razed 180 houses in Balud and Dawis (now Libo-on and Rodriguez Streets) just near the town plaza. This further dampened the already low morale of the people.

The first batch of raindrops fell in June so the people sowed corn and rice hoping that the drought had finally ended. But indeed, when misfortunes come, they come in throngs. Just when the rains started coming, so did the infesting locusts and other insects. They gnawed at the newly-sown seeds thus hunger persisted.

The months from August to December were remembered as the dreaded months as many got sick and perished because the resistance of the citizens was very low due to deficient food intake. Anemia and gastroenteritis were the cause of the early death. Almost 3,000 elderly citizens and children died. Because of this casualty, many opted to leave the town to seek fortune in other places were life was less harsh.

The next year 1879, it rained sufficiently, so that the harvest was comparatively better. But more bad times were yet to come.

Pestilence again struck in August 1882 and continued up to October. According to the official count as listed in the Libro de Entiero the number of deaths reached 900. This number, though, did not include those who perished in far away barrios whose bodies were not interred in the municipal cemetery in the Poblacion. The most tragic days were those from August 13-20. According to the accounts, an average of 90 people lost their lives everyday during that fateful week. It was said that some bodies did not see burial because sometimes entire families died together. The neighbors who attended the burial of a kin often found themselves the object of the funeral rites the next day.

From September to November of that year, a lone star with a projecting hair (could be a comet) appeared in the sky from 3:00 to 6:00 o’clock every morning. Some superstitious people interpreted this as an ominous sign from supernatural spirits.

The plague did not recognize barriers in economic and social position. While most victims belonged to the lower class, some who succumbed to the lethal plague were respected public officials. Some of them were Don Celedonio Almira, Don Belarmino Albeza, Don Isidro Allones, Don Placido Almira, Juez de Sementera Don Fausto Tolentino, Cabeza de Barangay Don Ciriaco Amargo, Don Julian Algallar, Don Patricio Guerrero and Guardia Civil Francisco Enriquez.

Many more tragedies occurred in the succeeding years, but the residents who survived the August to November onslaught of scourge would always remember it as the worst in their lives. Many even wondered how they survived.

On February 2, 1887 a strong earthquake rocked the town causing the stone image of St. Augustine, which was on top of the main door of the church, to fall. The cross on top of the belfry also crumbled down.

Six days later 48 more suffered the same fate in Barrio Gines.

After hundreds of years of Spanish domination, the Filipinos became weary of the Spanish rule as they were very cruel and oppressive. There were schools built but they were only for the Spaniards and Spanish mestizos. It shut its doors to the Filipinos. Since the Filipinos were ignorant, the colonizers maltreated and exploited them to the extent that they could no longer tolerate it.

The Roman Catholic Church is one of the edifices that serves as a monument of Spanish control in the islands which was constructed with the use of forced labor.