Weather and Nature

Earthquake today in Philippines

Quakes recorded in the Philippines area over the past weeks, newest first.

Automatic information from scientific catalogues. In an emergency, follow your local emergency service and geological survey.

Magnitude

5.5

Moderate (5 to 5.9)

17 km SW of Burias, Philippines · 10/8/26, 8:07 AM UTC

Value

25

Magnitude ≥ 2,5 · 30 day

MagnitudePlaceWhenDepthCategory
4.88 km SE of Sarangani, Philippines10/13/26, 3:21 PM UTC66 kmLight (4 to 4.9)
4.7124 km N of Pagudpud, Philippines10/13/26, 6:01 AM UTC10 kmLight (4 to 4.9)
4.6109 km SSE of Pondaguitan, Philippines10/11/26, 2:35 AM UTC121 kmLight (4 to 4.9)
4.617 km NNE of Santa Cruz, Philippines10/9/26, 9:17 AM UTC10 kmLight (4 to 4.9)
5.517 km SW of Burias, Philippines10/8/26, 8:07 AM UTC52 kmModerate (5 to 5.9)
4.05 km NE of Ambuclao, Philippines10/7/26, 4:58 PM UTC156 kmLight (4 to 4.9)
4.744 km E of Sarangani, Philippines10/7/26, 4:42 PM UTC115 kmLight (4 to 4.9)
4.2242 km SE of Pondaguitan, Philippines10/7/26, 12:39 AM UTC35 kmLight (4 to 4.9)
4.2293 km SSE of Tabiauan, Philippines10/6/26, 7:59 PM UTC551 kmLight (4 to 4.9)
5.051 km NNE of Semporna, Malaysia10/6/26, 1:11 PM UTC10 kmModerate (5 to 5.9)
4.8191 km ESE of Sarangani, Philippines10/5/26, 6:14 AM UTC51 kmLight (4 to 4.9)
4.5293 km SSE of Tabiauan, Philippines10/3/26, 11:14 PM UTC575 kmLight (4 to 4.9)
4.878 km WSW of San Nicolas, Philippines10/2/26, 3:10 PM UTC10 kmLight (4 to 4.9)
4.210 km SW of Conner, Philippines10/1/26, 6:42 AM UTC10 kmLight (4 to 4.9)
5.342 km WSW of Palimbang, Philippines10/1/26, 5:34 AM UTC10 kmModerate (5 to 5.9)
4.596 km SSE of Sarangani, Philippines9/30/26, 2:30 AM UTC140 kmLight (4 to 4.9)
4.810 km SE of Mamburao, Philippines9/30/26, 1:34 AM UTC10 kmLight (4 to 4.9)
4.748 km N of Dicabisagan, Philippines9/29/26, 8:45 PM UTC10 kmLight (4 to 4.9)
4.9121 km SE of Pondaguitan, Philippines9/28/26, 3:01 PM UTC87 kmLight (4 to 4.9)
4.765 km E of Pilar, Philippines9/28/26, 8:16 AM UTC10 kmLight (4 to 4.9)
4.940 km W of Palauig, Philippines9/28/26, 12:54 AM UTC10 kmLight (4 to 4.9)
4.337 km ENE of Kinablangan, Philippines9/26/26, 9:18 PM UTC10 kmLight (4 to 4.9)
4.220 km W of Luzon, Philippines9/23/26, 2:19 PM UTC149 kmLight (4 to 4.9)
4.425 km NE of La Paz, Philippines9/23/26, 6:19 AM UTC16 kmLight (4 to 4.9)
4.719 km ENE of Union, Philippines9/22/26, 8:34 PM UTC10 kmLight (4 to 4.9)
Magnitude and date of Philippines earthquakes over the last 30 daysScatter chart of the 25 earthquakes recorded in Philippines over the last 30 days: date on the horizontal axis, magnitude on the vertical, with the circle growing with magnitude. The largest in the window reached 5.5.4.04.55.05.5MagnitudeSep 16, 2026Sep 23, 2026Oct 01, 2026Oct 08, 2026Oct 16, 20265.5
Our own chart, from the same 30-day list for Philippines shown above.

How to read these numbers

Position: 3.5° / 19.8° lat, 116.3° / 127.7° lon

Range

RangeWhat it means
Micro (below 2)Only seismographs record it. Nobody feels it.
Minor (2 to 3.9)Sometimes felt near the epicentre, no damage.
Light (4 to 4.9)Widely felt, objects rattle, damage is rare.
Moderate (5 to 5.9)Damage to weak buildings near the epicentre.
Strong (6 to 6.9)Can destroy buildings up to a hundred kilometres away.
Major (7 to 7.9)Serious damage over a wide area.
Great (8 and above)Destruction across hundreds of kilometres; tsunami risk.

Choose a region

How to read this page

How to read magnitude

Each whole point of magnitude multiplies the energy released by about 31.6. Between the largest on this list (5.5) and one of magnitude 2.5 the gap is orders of magnitude, not percent.

Where the list comes from

The 25 records come from the USGS catalogue (and, in Europe, from EMSC), filtered by the coordinate box for Philippines: 3.5° / 19.8° lat, 116.3° / 127.7° lon. Each row’s time is the catalogue’s own, in UTC.

Preliminary data

Magnitude and depth in the first hours are preliminary and shift as more stations enter the solution. This page issues no warnings and does not replace civil protection authorities.

What to do during shaking

The official advice is to drop, cover your head and hold on to something firm, away from windows, until the shaking stops. The full guide is on the United States preparedness portal.

Ready.gov — Earthquakes

Understanding seismic activity in Philippines

How often did the ground shake in Philippines in the last 30 days?

Over the last 30 days the catalogue recorded 25 earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or above in the Philippines area, an average of 5.8 a week across the window this page covers.

Of the Philippines list, 0 came in below magnitude 4 (felt nearby, no damage), 22 between 4 and 5 and 3 at 5 or above — the normal proportion for any seismic region: many small, few large.

What does magnitude 5.5 mean in Philippines?

The largest event in the window for Philippines was magnitude 5.5 (Moderate (5 to 5.9)), at 17 km SW of Burias, Philippines, on 10/8/26, 8:07 AM UTC. The scale is logarithmic: that event released roughly 31,623 times more energy than one of magnitude 2.5. From 5 to 6.5 damage depends heavily on construction: a building to seismic code copes well, old masonry does not.

Why does Philippines have earthquakes?

The area this page covers (3.5° / 19.8° lat, 116.3° / 127.7° lon) sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, the belt of subduction zones that concentrates most of the planet’s earthquakes: there an oceanic plate dives beneath another, builds up stress and releases it in rupture. The median depth across this list is 16 km, and 68% of them are shallow (under 70 km), the band that shakes the surface hardest.

Words on this page

Magnitude

A measure of the size of an earthquake at its source, on a logarithmic scale: each whole point multiplies the energy released by about 31.6. A magnitude 7 event releases a thousand times more energy than a magnitude 5, not 1.4 times.

Standard definition by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) — ANSS ComCat · Magnitude

Richter and moment magnitude

The Richter scale, from 1935, was calibrated for Californian seismographs and saturates: above 7 it stops separating events. Agencies now publish moment magnitude (Mw), computed from the seismic moment — fault area, slip and rock rigidity. That is what the news still calls "the Richter scale".

Standard definition by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) — ANSS ComCat · Richter and moment magnitude

Focal depth

How many kilometres below the surface the rupture began. The USGS calls it shallow up to 70 km, intermediate from 70 to 300 km and deep beyond that. A shallow quake shakes the surface far harder than a deep one of the same magnitude.

Standard definition by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) — ANSS ComCat · Focal depth

Epicentre

The point on the surface directly above the earthquake’s focus, where the rupture began. The place a catalogue names is the nearest geographical reference to the epicentre, not necessarily the worst-hit town: that depends on depth and on ground type.

Epicentre

Preliminary data

A measurement published as soon as it is collected, before the agency’s final review. It can be corrected or withdrawn: earthquake magnitudes shift in the first hours, air-quality readings are revised weeks later. Use it to plan your day, not for regulatory or legal purposes.

Preliminary data

Aftershock

A smaller earthquake following a larger one on the same fault, while the rock settles into its new distribution of stress. Aftershocks are most frequent in the first hours and can continue for months, always below the magnitude of the main event.

Aftershock

See the full environment and live data glossary

Data from 10/16/26, 1:24 AM UTC

  • Dados de cidades: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)

How to read these numbers

The query uses a coordinate box around Philippines, shown at the end of the page. The list can therefore include an event just across the border or offshore, which is useful: a strong quake a hundred kilometres out to sea is still felt on land.

Frequently asked questions

Was there an earthquake in Philippines today?
If the first row carries today’s date, yes. When there is no recent event, the table shows earlier quakes from the queried period so you have a reference.
Why are small quakes listed here?
Where the seismic network is dense, the catalogue records low magnitudes that nobody feels. That makes a well monitored region look more active than one with few stations.

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