EARTHQUAKEM4.9

M4.9 earthquake near Malfa, Italy

Map: the earthquake near Malfa, Italy, with plate boundaries

A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck 81 km (50 mi) north-northwest of Malfa, Italy on Thursday, October 8, 2026 at 03:42 UTC, at a depth of 367 km (228 mi), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Quakes this deep are usually felt widely but rarely cause damage. The nearest city of a million or more people is Naples, Italy, about 182 km (113 mi) away.

MagnitudeM4.9
Depth367 km (228 mi)
Time (UTC)Oct 8 03:42
Location39.21°N 14.35°E
Nearest townMalfa · 81 km
Energy338 tons TNT
Aftershocks M2.5+1
Tsunami flagNo
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Why here?

This earthquake struck 367 km (228 mi) down, about 358 km (223 mi) from the nearest plate boundary on the surface. Quakes this deep happen inside old ocean plate that has sunk far into the mantle at a subduction zone, long after it dove beneath its neighbor. Their great depth spreads the shaking over a wide area but usually keeps it gentle at the surface.

The red lines on the map are plate boundaries.

How strong was it?

Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step releases about 32 times more energy. This magnitude 4.9 released roughly the energy of 338 tons of TNT. That is about 22 times the energy of a magnitude 4.0, a quake people nearby feel but that rarely causes damage. The strongest earthquake ever recorded, magnitude 9.5 in Chile in 1960, released about 7,900,000 times more than this one.

Aftershocks

In the first 18 days after it, USGS recorded 1 smaller earthquake of magnitude 2.5 or more within 100 km (62 mi). It was a magnitude 4.7 on October 23 at 15:32 UTC.

A stronger magnitude 5.7 followed on October 23 at 10:19 UTC, about 57 km (35 mi) away, so this one is now considered a foreshock.

Outside the United States, USGS mainly lists quakes of about magnitude 4 and up, so smaller aftershocks there are undercounted.

Earthquake history here

Before this earthquake, USGS had recorded 11 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or larger within 300 km (186 mi) since 1900. The strongest:

Official details, updates and the shaking map: USGS event page.

See every earthquake on October 8, 2026 or earthquakes by day.

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