EARTHQUAKEM4.8

M4.8 earthquake near Levuka, Fiji

Map: the earthquake near Levuka, Fiji, with plate boundaries

A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck 101 km (63 mi) east of Levuka, Fiji on Friday, October 9, 2026 at 08:27 UTC, at a depth of 643 km (399 mi), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Quakes this deep are usually felt widely but rarely cause damage.

MagnitudeM4.8
Depth643 km (399 mi)
Time (UTC)Oct 9 08:27
Location17.98°S 179.73°W
Nearest townLevuka · 101 km
Energy239 tons TNT
Aftershocks M2.5+1
Tsunami flagNo
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Why here?

This earthquake struck 643 km (399 mi) down, about 263 km (163 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 4.8 released roughly the energy of 239 tons of TNT. That is about 16 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 11,000,000 times more than this one.

Aftershocks

In the first 17 days after it, USGS recorded 1 smaller earthquake of magnitude 2.5 or more within 100 km (62 mi). It was a magnitude 4.5 on October 23 at 12:19 UTC.

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 138 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 9, 2026 or earthquakes by day.

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