On Wednesday Night a Significant M5.1 Earthquake struck near General Santos in The Philippines.

Written by Earthquakelist.org on July 21st, 2026. Last updated August 11th, 2026.

A significant Magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck under land 53 kilometer from General Santos in The Philippines in the night of Wednesday July 22nd, 2026.

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Earthquake Summary

The earthquake struck on land in The Philippines, 53 kilometer (33 mi) south-east of General Santos in Soccsksargen. The center of this earthquake had a quite shallow depth of 64 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Jul 22, 2026 02:33AM (Manila Time) - Jul 21, 2026 18:33 Universal Time.
Location:	53 km SE of General Santos, Soccsksargen, The Philippines. Coordinates 5°42'39"N 125°25'19"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.1 Detected by 169 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.044 .
Depth:	64 km (40 mi) A quite shallow depth.
Tsunami Risk:	Tsunami very unlikely While this was a shallow earthquake in a coastal area, it appears to have occurred under land (7 km from the sea) with a magnitude that is usually not strong enough to cause tsunami's. Always stay cautious - More info here.

Nearby towns and cities

This earthquake may have been felt in The Philippines . Located 27 kilometer (17 mi) south-east of the epicenter of this earthquake, Glan (Soccsksargen, The Philippines) is the nearest significant population center.

Multiple large cities are in proximity of today's earthquake. General Santos is located 53 km to the northwest. Davao is located 153 km to the north. Budta is located 198 km to the northwest.

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

Overview of nearby places

Shaking reported by 2 people

People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 2 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:

• San Jose (General Santos City, South Cotabato), Southern Mindanao, Philippines: 1 person.
• Buayan, Southern Mindanao, Philippines: 1 person.

9 Aftershocks detected

After this earthquake struck, 9 smaller aftershocks occurred. At a distance of 4 km (2.7 mi) northwest of this earthquake, an aftershock struck 15 hrs later. It measured a magnitude of 4.9

This main shock was prefaced by 15 smaller foreshocks. A 4.6 magnitude earthquake hit 2 days 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.

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 18th, 2026, when a 5.3 magnitude earthquake hit 148 km (92 mi) further southwest. An even stronger magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck on June 7th, 2026.

In total, 235 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.1 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 16 days.

Tsunami very unlikely

While MAG-6.5+ earthquakes may cause tsunami's, it appears that the epicenter of this earthquake hit under land. In addition, the reported depth is deeper than 100km, making the risk of a tsunami even less likely. However always stay cautious and monitor advice from local authorities.

Tsunami Risk Factors

Sources

Last updated 11/08/26 02:08 (). 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 us7000t2a7
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20260721_0000301
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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