Geography
Scarborough Shoal/Panatag forms a triangle-shaped chain of reefs and rocks or very small islands 55 kilometres (34 mi) in circumference with a total area including shallow water areas of 150 square kilometers. The shoal encompasses a shallow lagoon measuring 130 km² and approximately 15 metres (49 ft) deep. The shoal is a protrusion from a 3,500 m deep abyssal plain. Several of the rocks or small islands including "South Rock" are 1/2 m to 3 m high, and many of the reefs are just below water at high tide. To the east of the shoal is the 5,000 - 6,000 meter deep Manila Trench. Near the mouth of the lagoon are the ruins of an iron tower, 8.3 m high, that was constructed by the Philippine Navy as a lighthouse in 1965.
The shoal is about 123 miles (198 km) west of Subic Bay. The nearest landmass is Palauig, Zambales, on Luzon Island in the Philippines, 137 miles (220 km) due east.
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