M 5.0 Earthquake Hits Volcano Islands, Japan Region
A magnitude 5.0 earthquake was recorded by USGS near Volcano Islands, Japan region. On the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program scale, M5.0 is classified "Moderate". Among the 1,782 earthquake reports Areazine has published, this M5.0 event ranks stronger than 55% of them (rank #627 by magnitude).
This earthquake report, quickly
- Magnitude
- M 5.0
- USGS class
- Moderate
- Location
- Volcano Islands, Japan region
- Archive rank
- #627 of 1,782
- Source
- USGS
- Published
- September 22, 2026
Sits above 55% of the 1,782 earthquakes in the archive by magnitude; 626 ran stronger.
Record status: USGS's reading at the moment of detection — the agency keeps revising magnitude, aftershock counts, and felt reports on its own event page as more data arrives.
What Happened
A magnitude 5.0 mb earthquake occurred in the Volcano Islands, Japan region on 2026-09-20 at 12:38:24 UTC. The event was recorded at a depth of 10 km.
Location Details
The earthquake was centered at 23.1331°N, 142.4369°E in the Volcano Islands, Japan region. A depth of 10 km is classified as shallow.
Impact Assessment
No felt reports were recorded. There was no tsunami advisory (tsunami flag: 0) and no alert level was issued.
What You Should Know
This was a moderate earthquake. Such events can cause damage to poorly constructed buildings. Aftershocks are possible following any earthquake.
Source
Data from USGS: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000tj3k
Original source: USGS Official Notice ↗
Related Earthquakes
All Earthquakes →Elsewhere in the country: similar length or severity timing 8
Beyond this USGS earthquake report's own category, Areazine surfaces two nationwide peer sets: length-matched and severity/date-matched notices from elsewhere in the archive, distinct from the same-feed Related list above.
Similar body length
Nearest notices by article body length (712 characters here).
Similar severity timing
Same severity (medium) notices issued closest in time to September 22, 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about this USGS earthquake report.