M4.8 earthquake 20 km SSW of Balangonan, Philippines

Wednesday, August 19, 2026, 11:01:36 UTC · 5.413°N, 125.268°E

A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck 20 km SSW of Balangonan, Philippines on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, 11:01:36 UTC, at a depth of 80.8 km (intermediate). USGS received 4 “Did You Feel It?” reports, with a maximum reported intensity of III (weak). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.9 on August 14, 2026.

Magnitude: 4.8; Light · mb
Depth: 81 km; Intermediate
Felt reports: 4; Max intensity III
Est. shaking: —; No ShakeMap
PAGER alert: None; Not issued
Tsunami: No flag; USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

239 tons of TNT

That is about 1/63 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 2 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

246 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: intermediate

81 km

Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.

Did You Feel It?

Where it was felt

Reports sent by people to USGS, grouped by place (most reports first). Intensity uses the Modified Mercalli scale (I–X): what people felt, not the magnitude.

Place	Intensity	Reports	Distance
Klinan, Southern Mindanao, Philippines	III · Weak	1	118 km
Buayan, Southern Mindanao, Philippines	III · Weak	1	111 km
Barra, Northern Mindanao, Philippines	II · Weak	1	356 km
Padada, Southern Mindanao, Philippines	II · Weak	1	158 km

I felt it — report to USGS ↗

USGS PAGER estimate

Who was exposed to shaking

USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.

After the main event

Aftershocks within 50 km

USGS lists 5 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.8 on August 24, 2026. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 1,998 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 50 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 11,293 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1976M8.0
Mindanao: S
16 Aug 1976 · 163 km away · intensity VI
8,000 deaths$134 million damagetsunami
1856
Sangihe Pulau (Volcanic)
2 Mar 1856 · 196 km away
2,806 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1913M7.8
Sangihe Island
14 Mar 1913 · 95 km away · intensity IX
138 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
2026M7.8
Mindanao: S; Indonesia
7 Jun 2026 · 31 km away · intensity VIII
107 deaths$25 million damagetsunami
1928M7.4
Cotabato,N Coast Of Illana Bay
19 Dec 1928 · 183 km away · intensity VII
97 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1918M8.3
Mindanao: Cotabato
15 Aug 1918 · 142 km away · intensity X
52 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers