EARTHQUAKEM4.9

M4.9 earthquake near Merizo Village, Guam

Map: the earthquake near Merizo Village, Guam, with plate boundaries

A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck 74 mi (119 km) south-southwest of Merizo Village, Guam on Friday, October 16, 2026 at 11:57 UTC, at a depth of 6 mi (10 km), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Shallow quakes like this one shake the surface hardest.

2 people reported feeling it to USGS “Did You Feel It?”.

MagnitudeM4.9
Depth6 mi (10 km)
Time (UTC)Oct 16 11:57
Location12.33°N 144.12°E
Nearest townMerizo Village · 119 km
Energy338 tons TNT
Aftershocks M2.5+1
Tsunami flagNo
Felt reports2
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Why here?

This earthquake struck about 31 mi (51 km) from the boundary between the Pacific and Philippine Sea plates. Most earthquakes happen along plate boundaries like this one, where the pieces of Earth’s outer shell collide, pull apart or grind past each other. Stress builds up over years until the rock suddenly slips.

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 10 days after it, USGS recorded 1 smaller earthquake of magnitude 2.5 or more within 62 mi (100 km). It was a magnitude 4.6 on October 18 at 17:28 UTC.

Earthquake history here

Before this earthquake, USGS had recorded 55 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 16, 2026 or earthquakes by day.

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