South Sandwich Islands region

5 days ago

USGS

A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck South Sandwich Islands region on 12 Sept 2026, 11:05 UTC. The hypocentre was 98.2 km below the surface — intermediate by seismological convention.

Depth: 98.2 km
Latitude: 56.30°S
Time: 11:05 UTC
Magnitude: M4.9

EPICENTRE

View the official report↗

MAGNITUDE 4.9

Noticeable shaking of indoor objects. Damage is unlikely.

The scale is logarithmic: this released about 710 times the energy of a magnitude 3.0, roughly the energy of 338 tonnes of TNT.

98.2 KM DEEP

At this depth the energy spreads before it reaches the surface. Shaking is usually weaker than a shallow earthquake of the same size, but it can be felt across a wider area.