Significant M5.2 Earthquake struck on Friday Morning in the Philippine Sea near Kanoya (Japan).

Written by Earthquakelist.org on July 16th, 2026. Last updated July 20th, 2026.

In the early morning of Friday July 17th, 2026, a significant M5.2 earthquake hit in the Philippine Sea 93 kilometer from Kanoya, Japan.

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Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the Philippine Sea, 47 kilometers (29 mi) off the coast of Japan, 93 kilometer south-east of Kanoya in Kagoshima. The center of this earthquake had a quite shallow depth of 35 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Jul 17, 2026 06:49 (Tokyo Time) - Jul 16, 2026 21:49 Universal Time.
Location:	93 km SE of Kanoya, Kagoshima, Japan. Coordinates 30°45'45"N 131°30'36"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.2 Detected by 191 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.041 .
Depth:	35 km (22 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 . Nishinoomote in Kagoshima, Japan is the nearest significant place from the epicenter. The earthquake occurred 49 kilometer (30 mi) east of Nishinoomote.

Multiple large cities are in proximity of today's earthquake. Kagoshima is located 128 km to the northwest. Kumamoto is located 240 km to the north. Miyazaki is located 129 km to the north.

A complete list of nearby places is included 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:

• Kagoshima, Kagoshima, Japan: 1 person.

Risk of aftershocks?

This earthquake did not have any significant foreshocks nor aftershocks occurring within 100km (62 mi) of its epicenter.

The risk of aftershocks decreases rapidly over time. Usually, aftershocks are at least one order of magnitude lower than a main shock.

The chance that a significant earthquake like this one is followed by an even larger earthquake is not so large. On average, scientists estimate a 94% chance that a major earthquake will not be followed by an even larger one. It is still adviced to be aware of this risk

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 March 21st, 2026, when a 5.4 magnitude earthquake hit 163 km (102 mi) further southwest. An even stronger magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck on August 8th, 2024.

In total, 53 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 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 20/07/26 21:38 (). 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 us7000t15t
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20260716_0000382
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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