Deep magnitude 6.5 earthquake strikes west of Ogasawara Islands

A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck west of Japan's Ogasawara Islands at 02:09 UTC on Sunday, 492 kilometres underground, a depth that left only light shaking at the surface.

Why it matters: Deep earthquakes of this size rarely damage anything, and the Geological Survey's green alert points to a low likelihood of casualties or damage, so the event matters mainly as a seismic marker in the Izu-Bonin arc.

Data as of October 25, 2026, 00:11 ET: US Geological Survey event record us6000u4r9, a reviewed solution, read via its preserved event snapshot; Japan Meteorological Agency figures (magnitude 7.0, maximum intensity 3) as reported by TASS and RT, in Russian. The two agencies' magnitudes differ, as early solutions often do. No casualty or damage reports had appeared in the sources read. Developing item.

A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck west of Japan’s Ogasawara Islands, also known as the Bonin Islands, at 02:09 UTC on Sunday (11:09 local time), centred at 27.8 degrees north, 139.6 degrees east, the US Geological Survey said in a reviewed solution. The quake sat 492 kilometres below the surface, and the Japan Meteorological Agency, which put the magnitude at 7.0, recorded a maximum shaking intensity of just 3 in Ogasawara Village.

That depth is why a quake this size did so little at the surface: the Geological Survey issued a green PAGER alert, indicating a low likelihood of casualties and damage, and no casualty or damage reports had appeared in the sources read. Two smaller deep quakes, magnitudes 4.8 and 4.2, followed in the same area within 40 minutes at similar depths.

Deep magnitude 6.5 earthquake strikes west of Ogasawara Islands

Sources