Maribojoc Uplifted Marine Terrace

A 7.2-magnitude earthquake that rocked Bohol on October 15, 2013 brought devastation everywhere on the island and some nearby island provinces. The shaking was the result of a demonstration of nature’s power that has been changing the face of the Earth for millions of years: uplift of blocks of land during movement along a fault. This time the coastal areas of Loon-Maribojoc were pushed approximately 1.5 meters upwards when motion occured along a new fault in Inabanga. What was once a portion of the sea bottom and an underwater reef was now thrusted above sea level, creating a newly raised marine terrace and shifting the coastline 50 meters seaward. This is the Maribojoc Uplifted Marine Terrace. It is declared as the Loon-Maribojoc Geologic Monument by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources under the DENR Administrative Order No. 2015-08. The geological monument covers 1.37 kilometers (137 hectares) of uplifted coastline within the towns of Loon and Maribojoc.

Older marine terraces can also be found inland as part of the limestones of Maribojoc Formation. They too were a result of tectonic uplift in the not so distant geologic past, proof of the immense power of nature to create ever changing landscapes.