Shallow M5.0 AFTERSHOCK hit in the Sulawesi Sea 117km from Malingao (The Philippines) on Wednesday Evening.

Written by Earthquakelist.org on January 28th, 2026. Last updated February 18th, 2026.

Just before midnight of Wednesday January 28th, 2026, a shallow and significant Magnitude 5.0 aftershock hit in the Sulawesi Sea 117 kilometer from Malingao, The Philippines.

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Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the Sulawesi Sea, 39 kilometers (24 mi) off the coast of The Philippines, 117 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 11:58PM (Manila Time) - Jan 28, 2026 15:58 Universal Time.
Location:	117 km SW of Malingao, Soccsksargen, The Philippines. Coordinates 6°27'9"N 123°41'19"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.0 Detected by 63 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.071 .
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 . The closest significant population center near the earthquake is Maganoy in Rehiyong Autonomo sa Muslim na Mindanao, The Philippines. Maganoy is located 95 kilometer (59 mi) west-southwest of the epicenter.

Multiple large cities are in proximity of today's earthquake. Budta is located 118 km to the north-east. Malingao is located 117 km to the north-east. Davao is located 223 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 3 places, all within 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:

• Kulaman, Central Mindanao, Philippines: 1 person.
• Buayan, Southern Mindanao, Philippines: 1 person.
• Davao, Southern Mindanao, Philippines: 1 person.

This is likely an aftershock

Approximately 9 hrs before this earthquake hit, a larger 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck 12 km (8 mi) east-southeast of this one. For that reason, we classify the Mag. 5.0 earthquake as an aftershock.

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. In total, 157 earthquakes with a magnitude of 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 23 days.

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 18/02/26 18:18 (). 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 us6000s51a
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20260128_0000310
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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