EARTHQUAKEM4.9

M4.9 earthquake in the western Xizang

Map: the earthquake in the western Xizang, with plate boundaries

A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck in the western Xizang on Thursday, October 22, 2026 at 15:45 UTC, at a depth of 10 km (6 mi), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Shallow quakes like this one shake the surface hardest. The epicenter was about 486 km (302 mi) south of Quiemo, China. The nearest city of a million or more people is Patna, India, about 915 km (568 mi) away.

MagnitudeM4.9
Depth10 km (6 mi)
Time (UTC)Oct 22 15:45
Location33.80°N 86.23°E
Nearest townQuiemo · 486 km
Energy338 tons TNT
Aftershocks M2.5+0
Tsunami flagNo
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Why here?

This earthquake struck about 709 km (441 mi) from the nearest major plate boundary, which makes it an intraplate earthquake. These happen on old faults inside a plate, where stress from the plate’s slow movement is released. They are less common, but can surprise areas that rarely feel quakes.

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 4 days after it, USGS recorded no smaller earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more within 100 km (62 mi).

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 12 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 22, 2026 or earthquakes by day.

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