Alerts

Significant magnitude 5.5 earthquake 40 km northeast of Shikotan, Russia

Published: 22 October 2026
Categories: Global Earthquake Activity

RSS feed source: USGS Earthquake Hazards Program

Thursday, Oct 22, 2026 17:34 | 52 mins ago | By: EarthquakeMonitor

An earthquake of magnitude 5.5 occurred early on Friday morning, October 23rd, 2026, at 4:21 am local time near Shikotan, Sakhalin Oblast, Russia, as reported by Japan’s National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED).
According to preliminary data, the quake occurred at a moderately shallow depth of 61.10 km. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review the data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their reports.
Our monitoring service identified a second report from the citizen-seismograph network RaspberryShake, which listed the quake at magnitude 4.8.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake was probably felt by many people in the area of the epicenter. It should not have caused significant damage, other than objects falling from shelves, broken windows, etc.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Shikotan (pop. 2,100), located 40 km from the epicenter; Otrada (pop. 3,200), 92 km away; and Yuzhno-Kurilsk (pop. 7,800), 93 km away.
VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update the magnitude and depth if they change and follow up if other significant news about the quake becomes available. If you’re in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our

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