On Friday Evening a Shallow M5.2 Earthquake struck in the Indian Ocean 262km from Depok (Indonesia).

Written by Earthquakelist.org on September 18th, 2026. Last updated September 19th, 2026.

In the evening of Friday September 18th, 2026, a shallow and significant MAG-5.2 earthquake hit in the Indian Ocean 262 kilometer from Depok, Indonesia. Another country near the epicenter is Christmas Island.

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Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the Indian Ocean, 146 kilometers (91 mi) off the coast of Indonesia, 262 kilometer south of Depok in West Java. 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:	Sep 18, 2026 21:36 (Jakarta Time) - Sep 18, 2026 14:36 Universal Time.
Location:	262 km south of Depok, West Java, Indonesia. Coordinates 8°34'51"S 105°54'40"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.2 Detected by 65 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.075 .
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 struck within proximity of multiple countries. Indonesia and Christmas Island are both within 300km distance of its epicenter.

Located 191 kilometer (119 mi) south of the epicenter of this earthquake, Pelabuhanratu (West Java, Indonesia) is the nearest significant population center.

Multiple large cities are in proximity of today's earthquake. Jakarta is located 283 km to the north. Bandung is located 263 km to the north-east. Bekasi is located 287 km to the north-east.

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

Overview of nearby places

2 Aftershocks detected

Since this main shock, 2 smaller aftershocks were detected. At a distance of 46 km (28 mi) southwest of this earthquake, an aftershock struck 3 hrs later. It measured a magnitude of 4.4

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 September 14th, 2026, when a 5.5 magnitude earthquake hit 6 km (4 mi) further northwest. An even stronger magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck on August 2nd, 2019.

In total, 23 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 5 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 19/09/26 09:58 (). 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 us7000tib8
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20260918_0000209
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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