M 5.9 in Japan on 20 May 2026 02:46 UTC

Event summary

This earthquake can have a low humanitarian impact based on the magnitude and the affected population and their vulnerability.

GDACS ID EQ 1541508
Earthquake Magnitude: 5.9M
Depth: 42 Km
Lat/Lon: 27.392 , 128.7336
Event Date: 20 May 2026 02:46 UTC
20 May 2026 11:46 Local
Exposed Population: 2 thousand in MMI V
Inserted at: 20 May 2026 04:59 UTC
INFORM Coping capacity:
1.1 (Japan)

GDACS Score

For more info on GDACS alert score click here.
  Earthquake
(Shakemap)		 GDACS score
NEIC 0 0
us6000syw4 Scaled population (raster) 0  
  C1 shakemap 0  
  C2 shakemap 0  
  Country Vulnerability 0  
  INFORM_normalised 0  
Maximum expected impact using different data sources.
Virtual OSOCC
Meteo assessment
Satellite products
Analytical products
Detailed event map. European Union, 2026. Map produced by EC-JRC.
The boundaries and the names shown on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the European Union.

Updates on volcanic activity (Smithsonian)

Latest media headlines

5.9 Earthquake? Japan hits back after Miyagi offshore quake rattles ra.. 5/23/2026 8:09:00 AM.

A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck off Japan''s Miyagi region on Friday evening at 8.22pm local time, prompting emergency warnings in five prefectures and a brief halt to a high-speed rail line linking Tokyo and Shin-Aomori. Authorities said
...(more)
Small 3.6 quake hits near Unalaska, Aleutians West, Alaska, USA 5/23/2026 4:24:00 AM.

Structural features of the Great Pyramid of Khufu in the Giza pyramid complex in Egypt -- also known as the Khufu Pyramid and the Pyramid of Cheops -- may have enabled it to withstand earthquakes without sustaining serious damage over the a
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Ancient Egyptian engineering choices helped the Great Pyramid of Giza .. 5/22/2026 7:06:00 PM.

For some 4,600 years, the sheer size of the Great Pyramid of Giza helped it survive conflicts and threats. But how the architectural marvel endured severe natural disasters with limited damage was unknown. Now, a team of researchers think t
...(more)
Ancient Egyptian Engineering Choices Helped the Great Pyramid of Giza .. 5/22/2026 6:57:00 PM.

For some 4,600 years, the sheer size of the Great Pyramid of Giza helped it survive conflicts and threats. But how the architectural marvel endured severe natural disasters with limited damage was unknown. Now, a team of researchers think t
...(more)

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Estimated casualties (PAGER)

USGS estimates the number of casualties for each earthquake for the Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) product.
The graph shows the current fatalities estimate.

Exposed population

Data, images, links, services and documents

For this events, GDACS has links to information from the following sources: EC-JRC (48), NEIC (4), OCHA (1), WMO (1), USGS (5), (2), INFORM (2),