M5.0 earthquake in the Mid-Indian Ridge

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck in the Mid-Indian Ridge on Sunday, November 1, 2026 at 18:34 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. It struck far from land: no town on our map lies within 600 km (373 mi).
Why here?
This earthquake struck about 22 km (14 mi) from the boundary between the African and Australian 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 5.0 released roughly the energy of 477 tons of TNT. That is about 32 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 5,600,000 times more than this one.
Earthquake history here
Before this earthquake, USGS had recorded 1 earthquake of magnitude 6 or larger within 300 km (186 mi) since 1900. The strongest:
- M6.1 · Indian Ocean Triple JunctionAugust 20, 1937
Official details, updates and the shaking map: USGS event page.
See every earthquake on November 1, 2026 or earthquakes by day.
More from around the world
- M4.6 earthquake in the Mid-Indian RidgeNov 1, 2026
- M5.1 earthquake in the South Sandwich Islands regionNov 1, 2026
- M4.7 earthquake near Yonakuni, JapanNov 1, 2026
- M4.8 earthquake near Port-Olry, VanuatuNov 1, 2026
- Typhoon In-faNov 1, 2026
- M4.8 earthquake near Port-Olry, VanuatuNov 1, 2026
- Flash Flood Warning: Pearl River, MSNov 1, 2026
- Electron launch: The Sea God SurveysNov 2, 2026