Significant M5.2 FORESHOCK struck on Sunday Night in the Sulawesi Sea 129km from General Santos (The Philippines).

Written by Earthquakelist.org on July 11th, 2026. Last updated August 8th, 2026.

A significant M5.2 foreshock struck in the Sulawesi Sea 129 kilometer from General Santos, The Philippines in the night of Sunday July 12th, 2026.

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Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the Sulawesi Sea, 69 kilometers (43 mi) off the coast of The Philippines, 129 kilometer south of General Santos in Soccsksargen. The center of this earthquake had a quite shallow depth of 51 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Jul 12, 2026 01:49AM (Manila Time) - Jul 11, 2026 17:49 Universal Time.
Location:	129 km south of General Santos, Soccsksargen, The Philippines. Coordinates 4°57'11"N 125°12'35"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.2 Detected by 192 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.042 .
Depth:	51 km (32 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 The Philippines . The closest significant population center near the earthquake is Glan in Soccsksargen, The Philippines. Glan is located 97 kilometer (60 mi) south of the epicenter.

Multiple large cities are in proximity of today's earthquake. General Santos is located 129 km to the north. Davao is located 240 km to the north. Budta is located 264 km to the north.

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

Overview of nearby places

This is likely a foreshock

This earthquake was followed by a stronger MAG-6.2 earthquake, classifying this earthquake as a foreshock.

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.

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 July 11th, 2026, when a 5.4 magnitude earthquake hit 37 km (23 mi) further north-east. An even stronger magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck on June 7th, 2026.

In total, 164 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 22 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 08/08/26 02:28 (). 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 us7000szri
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20260711_0000274
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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