Reported by EMSCPhilippines6d ago
M3.2 earthquake in Mindanao, Philippines
Sunday, September 20, 2026, 20:25:44 UTC · 8.100°N, 125.980°E
A magnitude 3.2 earthquake struck in Mindanao, Philippines on Sunday, September 20, 2026, 20:25:44 UTC, at a depth of 9.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 3.2
- Minor · m
- Depth
- 9 km
- Shallow
- Reported by
- EMSC
- Agency PIVS
- Nearest tracker
- 106 km
- from Butuan
Outlined circle: this earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
951 kg of TNT
That is about 1/15,825 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 501 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
133 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
9 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 2,199 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 · 165 km S of this epicenter
- 8.01972 Mindanao, Philippines EarthquakeDecember 2, 1972 · 200 km S of this epicenter
- 7.919 km WNW of Palimbang, PhilippinesAugust 16, 1976 · 297 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.947 km ESE of Kalbay, PhilippinesMarch 14, 1913 · 284 km S of this epicenter
- 7.825 km SW of Kablalan, PhilippinesJune 7, 2026 · 296 km S of this epicenter
- 7.877 km E of Baculin, PhilippinesMay 25, 1943 · 164 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.774 km ENE of Barcelona, PhilippinesJuly 12, 1911 · 123 km E of this epicenter
- 7.619 km E of Gamut, PhilippinesDecember 2, 2023 · 67 km NE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 69 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 8,544 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1976M8.0
Mindanao: S
16 Aug 1976 · 290 km away · intensity VI
8,000 deaths$134 million damagetsunami
- 2013M7.1
Bohol, Cebu, Siquijor Is
15 Oct 2013 · 285 km away · intensity IX
222 deaths$52 million damage
- 2026M7.8
Mindanao: S; Indonesia
7 Jun 2026 · 297 km away · intensity VIII
107 deaths$25 million damagetsunami
- 1928M7.4
Cotabato,N Coast Of Illana Bay
19 Dec 1928 · 246 km away · intensity VII
97 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 2002M7.5
Mindanao
5 Mar 2002 · 299 km away
15 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
- 2019M6.8
Mindanao: Davao
15 Dec 2019 · 178 km away
13 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.