There has been speculation in the scientific community about the nature of the landform . Following the major 16 July 1990 Luzon earthquake , scientists reconsidered their fault models and decided it likely that Benham Plateau has similarly displaced the Philippine Fault System to the west . After analysing older models such as that of Pinet and Stephan ( 1989 ) , scientists reconsidered their fault models . They thought that it is highly likely that the Benham Plateau is still displacing Central Luzon and the Philippine Fault System to the west , which may have had an impact in causing such a catastrophic earthquake . The 20 second to 50 second wave in the 1990 quake that developed a new east-west sub-fault was so strong that it terminated disastrously at the city of Baguio in Benguet , Cordillera . Several scientific surveys , conducted between 2004 and 2008 , collected hydrographic data that determined the morphology of the seabed in the region . Additional data from international bathymetric surveys and an analysis of international research projects were collected to support the findings
1990 Luzon earthquake
1990 Luzon earthquake
Benham Rise