On Thursday Afternoon a Significant M5.5 Earthquake struck in the South China Sea 202km from Laoag (The Philippines).

Written by Earthquakelist.org on December 18th, 2025. Last updated January 7th, 2026.

In the afternoon of Thursday December 18th, 2025, a significant MAG-5.5 earthquake hit in the South China Sea 202 kilometer from Laoag, The Philippines. Shaking may have been felt by a total of 1.1 million people. Another nearby country is Taiwan.

Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the South China Sea, 60 kilometers (37 mi) off the coast of The Philippines, 202 kilometer north-northeast of Laoag in Ilocos. The center of this earthquake had a quite shallow depth of 40 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Dec 18, 2025 03:27PM (Manila Time) - Dec 18, 2025 07:27 Universal Time.
Location:	202 km NNE of Laoag, Ilocos, The Philippines. Coordinates 19°54'25"N 121°14'33"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.5 Detected by 18 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.073 .
Depth:	40 km (25 mi) A quite shallow depth.
Max. Intensity:	IV Light 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 1.1 million people exposed to shaking

The USGS has published a report estimating the number of people exposed to this earthquake. Acoording to their analysis, roughly 1.1 million have been exposed to shaking at an MMI level of II or higher.

The highest earthquake impact level for this earthquake is IV, which corresponds with light shaking and likely no damage. Roughly 16,750 people are expected to be exposed to this level. Intensity level III was experienced by the majority of people (around 1.1 million). In their region, weak shaking and probably no damage can be expected.

People in 2 countries have been exposed to shaking. In The Philippines , around 1.1 million people, with impact levels up to IV (light shaking, likely no damage).

People	MMI Level	Shaking	Damage
0	I	Not noticable	None
2,020	II	Very weak	None
1,052,000	III	Weak	Probably none
16,750	IV	Light	Likely none
0	V	Moderate	Very light
0	VI	Strong	Light
0	VII	Very Strong	Moderate
0	VIII	Severe	Moderate to heavy
0	IX	Violent	Heavy
0	X	Extreme	Very heavy

Nearby towns and cities

2 countries can be found within 300km of the epicenter of this earthquake: The Philippines and Taiwan .

Located 177 kilometer (110 mi) north-northwest of the epicenter of this earthquake, Aparri (Cagayan Valley, The Philippines) is the nearest significant population center. The intensity of shaking and damage in Aparri is estimated to be around level III on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale (weak shaking, probably no damage).

A complete list of nearby places is included below. Estimated intensity data (MMI) sourced from a shake-map published by the US Geographic Survey is shown where available (cities without data probably experienced little impact).

Overview of nearby places

Cities and Towns around the epicenter of this earthquake.
Distance	Place	Intensity (MMI)
177 km (110 mi) SSE from epicenter	Aparri Cagayan Valley, The Philippines.	III Weak
202 km (126 mi) SSW from epicenter	Laoag Ilocos, The Philippines.	III Weak
205 km (127 mi) SSW from epicenter	San Nicolas Ilocos, The Philippines.	III Weak
218 km (135 mi) SSW from epicenter	Batac City Ilocos, The Philippines.
239 km (149 mi) NNW from epicenter	Hengchun Pingtung County, Taiwan.
255 km (158 mi) S from epicenter	Solana Cagayan Valley, The Philippines.
260 km (162 mi) SSE from epicenter	Tuguegarao Cagayan Valley, The Philippines.
272 km (169 mi) S from epicenter	Tabuk Cordillera, The Philippines.
275 km (171 mi) SSW from epicenter	Vigan Ilocos, The Philippines.
281 km (175 mi) SSE from epicenter	Cabagan Cagayan Valley, The Philippines.
296 km (184 mi) NNW from epicenter	Donggang Pingtung County, Taiwan.

Earthquake Intensity Map

The graph below overlays a map of the region around the epicenter with earthquake intensity data provided by the US Geographic Survey. The highest intensity level detected for this earthquake is IV.

I Not felt

II Weak

III Weak

IV Light

V Moderate

VI Strong

VII Very Strong

VIII Severe

IX Violent

X Extreme

Earthquake Intensity Map based on Shakemap Data provided by USGS.

Shaking reported by 1 person

People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 1 person has reported shaking in one place in Taiwan.We keep updating this article as more ground reports become available. You may report that you felt this earthquake here.

Places with most reports:

Yungho, Taipei Hsien, Taiwan: 1 person.

4 Aftershocks detected

This main shock was followed by 4 smaller aftershocks. At a distance of 14 km (9 mi) south-southeast of this earthquake, an aftershock struck 2 hrs later. It measured a magnitude of 3.8

Before this earthquake struck, 2 smaller foreshocks occurred. Nearby this earthquake a foreshock struck 3 hrs earlier. It measured a magnitude of 3.4

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

Detected MAG2.5+ earthquakes within within 100km (62 mi), that occurred in the three days before and after the main shock.
Classification	Magnitude	When	Where
Foreshock	M 3.4	1 day earlier Dec 17, 2025 10:08AM (Manila Time)	40 km (25 mi) SE from Main Shock.
Foreshock	M 3.4	3 hrs earlier Dec 18, 2025 12:49PM (Manila Time)	38 km (24 mi) SE from Main Shock.
Main Shock	M 3.9	Dec 18, 2025 03:33PM (Manila Time)	-
Aftershock	M 3.5	1 hr later Dec 18, 2025 04:38PM (Manila Time)	65 km (40 mi) ESE from Main Shock.
Aftershock	M 3.8	2 hrs later Dec 18, 2025 06:01PM (Manila Time)	14 km (9 mi) SSE from Main Shock.
Aftershock	M 3.1	6 hrs later Dec 18, 2025 09:04PM (Manila Time)	69 km (43 mi) E from Main Shock.
Aftershock	M 3.0	3 days later Dec 21, 2025 10:41AM (Manila Time)	29 km (18 mi) SE from Main Shock.

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.

Read: How to Stay Safe during an Earthquake (cdc.gov).

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 July 20th, 2025, when a 5.5 magnitude earthquake hit 40 km (25 mi) further south-east. An even stronger magnitude 7 earthquake struck on July 27th, 2022.

In total, 25 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.5 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 5 months.

Low tsunami risk

DISCLAIMER: We strongly suggest to closely monitor advice from local authorities with regards to tsunami risks. Our analysis is based on automatically collected data from external sources, and these might contain mistakes. In addition, earthquakes can cause landslides that may lead to a tsunami, or be a followed by another, potentially stonger, earthquake.

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

Factor	Under Sea?	MAG-6.5 or stronger?	Shallow depth?
Explanation	Almost all tsunami's are caused by earthquakes with their epicenter under sea or very near the sea. However stay cautious in coastal areas as earthquakes on land may cause landslides into sea, potentially still causing a local tsunami.	Under MAG 6.5: Very unlikely to cause a tsunami. MAG 6.5 to 7.5: Destructive tsunami's do occur, but are uncommon. Likely to observe small sea level changes. MAG 7.6+: Earthquakes with these magnitudes might produce destructive tsunami's.	Most destructive tsunami's are caused by shallow earthquakes with a depth between 0 and 100km under the surface of the earth. Deeper tsunami's are unlikely to displace to ocean floor.
This Earthquake	This earthquake appears to have struck under the sea.	Not this earthquake. This earthquake had a magnitude of 5.5. Earthquakes of this strength are unlikely to trigger a tsunami.	This earthquake occurred at a depth of of 40 km (25 mi). Earthquakes this shallow could trigger a tsunami.

Sources

Last updated 07/01/26 09:28 (). This article is automatically generated based on available data. We keep checking multiple sources for additional information. This article gets updated as new details on this earthquake become available.