M4.8 earthquake in the Sea of Okhotsk

A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck in the Sea of Okhotsk on Thursday, November 5, 2026 at 10:09 UTC, at a depth of 554 km (345 mi), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Quakes this deep are usually felt widely but rarely cause damage. The epicenter was about 339 km (211 mi) east of Poronaysk. The nearest city of a million or more people is Sapporo, about 846 km (526 mi) away.
Why here?
This earthquake struck 554 km (345 mi) down, about 432 km (268 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.
Earthquake history here
Before this earthquake, USGS had recorded 13 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or larger within 300 km (186 mi) since 1900. The strongest:
- M7.7 · 156 km ENE of Poronaysk, RussiaAugust 14, 2012
- M7.7 · Sea of OkhotskMay 25, 1907
- M7.5 · Sea of OkhotskJanuary 31, 1900
Official details, updates and the shaking map: USGS event page.
See every earthquake on November 5, 2026 or earthquakes by day.
More from around the world
- M5.1 earthquake near Masumbwe, TanzaniaNov 5, 2026
- M5.0 earthquake near Petrolia, CANov 5, 2026
- M4.6 earthquake in the south of the Fiji IslandsNov 4, 2026
- Flash Flood Warning: Fannin, GANov 5, 2026
- Flash Flood Warning: Polk, TNNov 5, 2026
- Typhoon In-faNov 5, 2026
- Great Sitkin volcanoNov 4, 2026
- Asteroid 2026 VP1 flies past EarthNov 5, 2026