Shallow M5.2 Earthquake struck on Friday Night in the Caribbean Sea near San Pedro Sula (Honduras).

Written by Earthquakelist.org on January 16th, 2026. Last updated January 27th, 2026.

Just after midnight of Friday January 16th, 2026, a shallow and significant Magnitude 5.2 earthquake hit in the Caribbean Sea 36 kilometer from San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Other countries near the epicenter include Guatemala, Belize and El Salvador.

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Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the Caribbean Sea, right off the coast of Honduras (4 mi offshore), 36 kilometer north-northwest of San Pedro Sula in Cortés. The center of this earthquake had a very shallow depth of 7 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Jan 16, 2026 12:08AM (Tegucigalpa Time) - Jan 16, 2026 06:08 Universal Time.
Location:	36 km NNW of San Pedro Sula, Cortés, Honduras. Coordinates 15°46'54"N 88°11'39"W.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.2 Detected by 29 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.058 .
Depth:	7 km (4 mi) A very shallow depth.
Tsunami Risk:	Low tsunami risk Earthquakes under MAG-6.5 do not usually cause tsunami's. Always stay cautious - More info here.

Nearby towns and cities

4 countries can be found within 300km of the epicenter of this earthquake: Honduras , Guatemala , Belize and El Salvador .

Puerto Cortez in Cortés, Honduras is the nearest significant place from the epicenter. The earthquake occurred 29 kilometer (18 mi) west of Puerto Cortez.

Multiple major population centers exist within 300km of the earthquake that struck today. San Pedro Sula is located 36 km to the south-southeast. Choloma is located 32 km to the south-east. Tegucigalpa is located 217 km to the south-southeast.

The table below provides an overview of all places in proximity of today's earthquake.

Overview of nearby places

Shaking reported by 77 people in 4 countries

People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 77 people have reported shaking in 22 places in 4 countries (Honduras, Belize, Guatemala, Mexico).We keep updating this article as more ground reports become available. You may report that you felt this earthquake here.

Places with most reports:

• Dangriga, Stann Creek, Belize: 17 people.
• Armenta, Cortés, Honduras: 10 people.
• Peña Blanca, Cortés, Honduras: 9 people.
• San Pedro Sula, Cortés, Honduras: 6 people.
• Belize, Belize, Belize: 5 people.
• Punta Gorda, Toledo, Belize: 5 people.
• San Ignacio, Cayo, Belize: 4 people.
• Choloma, Cortés, Honduras: 4 people.
• Zapotal del Norte, Cortés, Honduras: 3 people.
• Villanueva, Cortés, Honduras: 2 people.

7 Aftershocks detected

After this earthquake struck, 7 smaller aftershocks occurred. Just 2 hrs after this main shock, an earthquake measuring MAG-3.5 was detected 13 km (8 mi) east-northeast of this earthquake.

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.

In only six percent of cases, significant earthquakes are followed by a larger main shock, making the current earthquake a foreshock. While the chance of this happening is not so large, it is adviced to maintain cautiousness in the hours and days following a major 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 July 29th, 2025, when a 5.7 magnitude earthquake hit 262 km (163 mi) further southwest. An even stronger magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck on May 17th, 2023.

In total, 14 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.2 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 9 months.

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 27/01/26 06:38 (). 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 us7000rq11
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20260116_0000087
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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