Reviewed by USGSPhilippines7d ago
M4.6 earthquake 2 km S of Buenavista, Philippines
Sunday, September 20, 2026, 15:37:53 UTC · 9.095°N, 126.157°E
A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck 2 km S of Buenavista, Philippines on Sunday, September 20, 2026, 15:37:53 UTC, at a depth of 87.2 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.9 on September 16, 2026.
- Magnitude
- 4.6
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 87 km
- Intermediate
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- —
- No ShakeMap
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
120 tons of TNT
That is about 1/126 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 4 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
81 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: intermediate
87 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
No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.
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 has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km since this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 1,705 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 · 275 km S of this epicenter
- 7.877 km E of Baculin, PhilippinesMay 25, 1943 · 228 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.774 km ENE of Barcelona, PhilippinesJuly 12, 1911 · 117 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.619 km E of Gamut, PhilippinesDecember 2, 2023 · 69 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.689 km E of Sulangan, PhilippinesAugust 31, 2012 · 198 km N of this epicenter
- 7.637 km ENE of Barcelona, PhilippinesDecember 15, 1989 · 105 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.521 km SE of Lukatan, PhilippinesJanuary 1, 2001 · 249 km S of this epicenter
- 7.462 km E of Baculin, PhilippinesNovember 11, 1921 · 213 km SE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 62 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 317 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 2013M7.1
Bohol, Cebu, Siquijor Is
15 Oct 2013 · 240 km away · intensity IX
222 deaths$52 million damage
- 2019M6.8
Mindanao: Davao
15 Dec 2019 · 286 km away
13 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 2019M6.6
Mindanao: Cotabato, Davao
29 Oct 2019 · 283 km away
13 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 2025M7.4
Mindanao
10 Oct 2025 · 209 km away · intensity VI
10 deaths$6 million damagetsunami
- 2019M6.5
Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat
31 Oct 2019 · 267 km away
10 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 2017M6.5
Surigao Del Norte
10 Feb 2017 · 119 km away · intensity VIII
8 deaths$40 million damage
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.