Shallow M5.3 FORESHOCK hit in the Sulawesi Sea 110km from Malingao (The Philippines) on Wednesday Night.

Written by Earthquakelist.org on January 27th, 2026. Last updated January 29th, 2026.

A shallow and significant Magnitude 5.3 foreshock struck in the Sulawesi Sea 110 kilometer from Malingao, The Philippines in the night of Wednesday January 28th, 2026.

Felt the earthquake? Share this article:

Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the Sulawesi Sea, 28 kilometers (17 mi) off the coast of The Philippines, 110 kilometer southwest of Malingao in Soccsksargen. The center of this earthquake had a very shallow depth of 10 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Jan 28, 2026 01:05AM (Manila Time) - Jan 27, 2026 17:05 Universal Time.
Location:	110 km SW of Malingao, Soccsksargen, The Philippines. Coordinates 6°26'9"N 123°47'30"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.3 Detected by 20 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.069 .
Depth:	10 km (6 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

This earthquake may have been felt in The Philippines . Laguilayan in Soccsksargen, The Philippines is the nearest significant place from the epicenter. The earthquake occurred 85 kilometer (53 mi) west-southwest of Laguilayan.

Multiple large cities are in proximity of today's earthquake. Budta is located 111 km to the north-east. Malingao is located 110 km to the north-east. Davao is located 213 km to the east-northeast.

A complete list of nearby places is included below.

Overview of nearby places

Shaking reported by 3 people

People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 3 people have reported shaking in 2 places in Philippines.We keep updating this article as more ground reports become available. You may report that you felt this earthquake here.

Places with most reports:

• Buayan, Southern Mindanao, Philippines: 2 people.
• Davao, Southern Mindanao, Philippines: 1 person.

This is likely a foreshock

This earthquake was followed by a stronger MAG-5.9 earthquake, classifying this earthquake as a foreshock.

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

More earthquakes coming?

Earthquakes can create aftershocks. These are generally at least 1 magnitude lower than any main shock, and as time passes the chance and strength of aftershocks decreases.

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 January 21st, 2026, when a 5.4 magnitude earthquake hit 10 km (6 mi) further south-southwest. An even stronger magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck on January 10th, 2017.

In total, 75 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.3 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 2 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 29/01/26 09:28 (). This article contains currently available information about the earthquake and is automatically composed. We continue to update this article up to a few days after the earthquake occurred.

1. US Geographic Society (USGS): Earthquake us6000s4rf
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20260127_0000309
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

Share this article: