Reviewed by USGS20d ago
M5.2 earthquake southern East Pacific Rise
Sunday, September 6, 2026, 10:38:18 UTC · 24.523°S, 116.031°W
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck southern East Pacific Rise on Sunday, September 6, 2026, 10:38:18 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.2 on September 6, 2026.
- Magnitude
- 5.2
- Moderate · mb
- Depth
- 10 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- —
- No ShakeMap
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 75 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
951 tons of TNT
That is about 1/16 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 2 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
12 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Easter and Pacific 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.
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 75 km
USGS lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km since this event; the largest was M5.2 on September 6, 2026. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 128 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 6.8Easter Island regionJuly 12, 2022 · 281 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.4southern East Pacific RiseFebruary 19, 1951 · 59 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.3southern East Pacific RiseApril 8, 1954 · 182 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.2Easter Island regionSeptember 22, 1950 · 276 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.2Easter Island regionApril 23, 1955 · 293 km E of this epicenter
- 6.1Easter Island regionJuly 18, 1952 · 214 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.1Easter Island regionFebruary 26, 1990 · 270 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.1Easter Island regionSeptember 6, 2014 · 282 km SE of this epicenter