Significant M5.4 Earthquake struck on Thursday Evening in the Philippine Sea 249km from General Santos (The Philippines).

Written by Earthquakelist.org on February 6th, 2025. Last updated February 8th, 2025.

A significant M5.4 earthquake struck in the Philippine Sea 249 kilometer from General Santos, The Philippines in the evening of Thursday February 6th, 2025. Around 1.8 million people have been exposed to shaking.

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Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the Philippine Sea, 188 kilometers (117 mi) off the coast of The Philippines, 249 kilometer south-east of General Santos in Soccsksargen. The center of this earthquake had a quite shallow depth of 48 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Feb 6, 2025 09:16PM (Manila Time) - Feb 6, 2025 13:16 Universal Time.
Location:	249 km SE of General Santos, Soccsksargen, The Philippines. Coordinates 4°28'8"N 126°41'40"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.4 Detected by 74 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.068 .
Depth:	48 km (30 mi) A quite shallow depth.
Max. Intensity:	V Moderate On the Modified Mercalli Scale.
Tsunami Risk:	Low tsunami risk Earthquakes under MAG-6.5 do not usually cause tsunami's. Always stay cautious - More info here.

Minimal impact predicted

Based on scientific estimates by the US Geographic Survey (USGS), the risk of high fatalities for this earthquake is classified at level GREEN (low). They expect an 65% likelyhood of between 0 and 1 fatalities, and a 96% chance that the number of fatalities falls no higher than 10.

The USGS classifies the economic impact of this earthquake at level GREEN (low). They expect an 65% likelyhood of between 0 and 1 million US Dollars in economic damage and impact, and a 96% chance that the economic impact of this earthquake falls no higher than 10 million USD.

Roughly 1.8 million people exposed to shaking

This earthquake may have been felt by around 1.8 million people. That is the expected population size of the area exposed to a level of shaking of II or higher on the Modified Mercalli scale according to the USGS.

Moderate shaking and very light damage may have been experienced by an estimated 710 people. At V, it is the highest MMI level this earthquake has caused. Intensity level II was experienced by the majority of people (around 1.2 million). In their region, very weak shaking and no damage can be expected.

People in 2 countries have been exposed to shaking. In Indonesia , around 290 thousand people, with impact levels up to V (moderate shaking, very light damage). In The Philippines , around 1.5 million people.

Nearby towns and cities

This earthquake may have been felt in The Philippines . Glan in Soccsksargen, The Philippines is the nearest significant place from the epicenter. The earthquake occurred 224 kilometer (139 mi) south-east of Glan. The intensity of shaking and damage in Glan is estimated to be around level III on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale (weak shaking, probably no damage).

Major cities near this earthquake: General Santos is located 249 km to the northwest and experienced an intensity of III (weak shaking, probably no damage). Digos is located 294 km to the north-northwest (intensity unknown, possibly low). Mati is located 281 km to the north (intensity unknown, possibly low).

An overview of nearby towns and cities is available in the overview below. If places don't have intensity data available, it likely means the experienced impact in those places was fairly small.

Overview of nearby places

Earthquake Intensity Map

The maximum intensity (MMI Scale) caused by this earthquake is V. The map below shows in which areas this earthquake was the most and least impactful. It is based on data from the US Geographic Survey.

I Not felt

II Weak

III Weak

IV Light

V Moderate

VI Strong

VII Very Strong

VIII Severe

IX Violent

X Extreme

Aftershocks detected

This main shock was prefaced by 3 smaller foreshocks. Nearby this earthquake a foreshock struck 2 days earlier. It measured a magnitude of 3.6

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

More earthquakes coming?

The risk of aftershocks decreases rapidly over time. Usually, aftershocks are at least one order of magnitude lower than a main shock.

It's always adviced to be cautious of the risk of a larger shock following any significant earthquake, however this risk is fairly small. There is a roughly 94 percent change that no larger main shock will follow in the days following this earthquake.

Earthquakes like this happen often in the region

Earthquakes of this strength are very common in the region. This is the strongest earthquake to hit since February 3rd, 2025, when a 5.9 magnitude earthquake hit 234 km (145 mi) further south-east. An even stronger magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck on August 11th, 2021.

In total, 114 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.4 or higher have been registered within 300km (186 mi) of this epicenter in the past 10 years. This comes down to an average of once every month.

Low tsunami risk

Based on early data it appears this earthquake was not strong enough (lower than MAG-6.5) to be likely to cause destructive tsunami's. However this earthquake appeared to have hit at a shallow depth under sea, so stay cautious and monitor advice from local authorities.

Tsunami Risk Factors

Sources

Last updated 08/02/25 01:38 (). As more information on this earthquake becomes available this article will be updated. This article is automatically composed based on data originating from multiple sources.

1. US Geographic Society (USGS): Earthquake us7000pbt5
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20250206_0000241
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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