Reported by EMSCPhilippines9d ago
M3.3 earthquake in Mindanao, Philippines
Friday, September 18, 2026, 03:01:41 UTC · 9.260°N, 125.620°E
A magnitude 3.3 earthquake struck in Mindanao, Philippines on Friday, September 18, 2026, 03:01:41 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 3.3
- Minor · m
- Depth
- 10 km
- Shallow
- Reported by
- EMSC
- Agency PIVS
- Nearest tracker
- 36 km
- from Butuan
Outlined circle: this earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
1 tons of TNT
That is about 1/11,203 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 355 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
132 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Philippine Sea and Sunda plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
10 km
Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.
After the main event
Aftershocks within 50 km
USGS and EMSC have not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km since this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 1,695 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.11924 Mindanao, Philippines EarthquakeApril 14, 1924 · 299 km S of this epicenter
- 7.877 km E of Baculin, PhilippinesMay 25, 1943 · 278 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.774 km ENE of Barcelona, PhilippinesJuly 12, 1911 · 177 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.619 km E of Gamut, PhilippinesDecember 2, 2023 · 120 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.689 km E of Sulangan, PhilippinesAugust 31, 2012 · 205 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.637 km ENE of Barcelona, PhilippinesDecember 15, 1989 · 159 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.521 km SE of Lukatan, PhilippinesJanuary 1, 2001 · 283 km S of this epicenter
- 7.462 km E of Baculin, PhilippinesNovember 11, 1921 · 262 km SE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 64 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 448 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 2013M7.1
Bohol, Cebu, Siquijor Is
15 Oct 2013 · 179 km away · intensity IX
222 deaths$52 million damage
- 2025M6.9
Cebu, Central Visayas
30 Sep 2025 · 266 km away · intensity VII
79 deaths$1 million damage
- 2012M6.7
Negros Oriental Province
6 Feb 2012 · 277 km away · intensity VIII
51 deaths$9 million damagetsunami
- 2019M6.8
Mindanao: Davao
15 Dec 2019 · 288 km away
13 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 2019M6.6
Mindanao: Cotabato, Davao
29 Oct 2019 · 281 km away
13 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 2025M7.4
Mindanao
10 Oct 2025 · 249 km away · intensity VI
10 deaths$6 million damagetsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.