Reported by EMSCPhilippines4d ago
M4.2 earthquake in Mindanao, Philippines
Wednesday, September 23, 2026, 06:19:17 UTC · 9.150°N, 126.530°E
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck in Mindanao, Philippines on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, 06:19:17 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.2
- Light · m
- Depth
- 10 km
- Shallow
- Reported by
- EMSC
- Agency PIVS
- Nearest tracker
- 111 km
- from Butuan
Outlined circle: this earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
30 tons of TNT
That is about 1/500 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 16 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
41 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Philippine Sea and Sunda plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
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 1,630 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 · 284 km S of this epicenter
- 7.877 km E of Baculin, PhilippinesMay 25, 1943 · 214 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.774 km ENE of Barcelona, PhilippinesJuly 12, 1911 · 92 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.619 km E of Gamut, PhilippinesDecember 2, 2023 · 70 km S of this epicenter
- 7.689 km E of Sulangan, PhilippinesAugust 31, 2012 · 185 km N of this epicenter
- 7.637 km ENE of Barcelona, PhilippinesDecember 15, 1989 · 93 km S of this epicenter
- 7.521 km SE of Lukatan, PhilippinesJanuary 1, 2001 · 250 km S of this epicenter
- 7.462 km E of Baculin, PhilippinesNovember 11, 1921 · 201 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 54 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 278 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 2013M7.1
Bohol, Cebu, Siquijor Is
15 Oct 2013 · 277 km away · intensity IX
222 deaths$52 million damage
- 2025M7.4
Mindanao
10 Oct 2025 · 208 km away · intensity VI
10 deaths$6 million damagetsunami
- 2019M6.5
Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat
31 Oct 2019 · 291 km away
10 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 2017M6.5
Surigao Del Norte
10 Feb 2017 · 145 km away · intensity VIII
8 deaths$40 million damage
- 1990M6.6
Bohol, Cebu, Cagayan De Oro, Camiguin
8 Feb 1990 · 212 km away · intensity VII
6 deathsUnder $1 million damagetsunami
- 1922M6.3
Cebu Island, Mactan Island
27 Feb 1922 · 291 km away · intensity V
5 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.