Significant M5.2 Earthquake struck on Tuesday Morning in the North Pacific Ocean near Miyako (Japan).

Written by Earthquakelist.org on May 5th, 2026. Last updated May 6th, 2026.

In the morning of Tuesday May 5th, 2026, a significant MAG-5.2 earthquake hit in the North Pacific Ocean 98 kilometer from Miyako, Japan.

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Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the North Pacific Ocean, 114 kilometers (71 mi) off the coast of Japan, 98 kilometer east of Miyako in Iwate. The center of this earthquake had a quite shallow depth of 32 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	May 5, 2026 08:54 (Tokyo Time) - May 4, 2026 23:54 Universal Time.
Location:	98 km east of Miyako, Iwate, Japan. Coordinates 39°58'0"N 143°0'27"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.2 Detected by 13 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.086 .
Depth:	32 km (20 mi) A quite 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 Japan . Miyako in Iwate, Japan is the nearest significant place from the epicenter. The earthquake occurred 98 kilometer (61 mi) east of Miyako.

Multiple major population centers exist within 300km of the earthquake that struck today. Sendai is located 264 km to the southwest. Morioka is located 161 km to the west. Hachinohe is located 141 km to the northwest.

An overview of nearby towns and cities is available in the overview below.

Overview of nearby places

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 Japan.We keep updating this article as more ground reports become available. You may report that you felt this earthquake here.

Places with most reports:

• Misawa, Aomori, Japan: 1 person.

Aftershocks detected

In the days before this main shock, 3 smaller foreshocks were detected. A 4.8 magnitude earthquake hit 2 hrs earlier nearby.

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

More earthquakes coming?

Aftershocks are usually at least 1 order of magnitude less strong than main shocks. The more time passes, the smaller the chance and likely strength of any potential aftershocks.

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 April 22nd, 2026, when a 5.3 magnitude earthquake hit 16 km (10 mi) further east. An even stronger magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck on December 8th, 2025.

In total, 115 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 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 06/05/26 10:58 (). 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.

1. US Geographic Society (USGS): Earthquake us7000si9t
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20260504_0000361
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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