Back to map

M5.5 Earthquake near 96 km SW of Basco, Philippines

UTC time: 2025-12-18 07:27:47 UTC Local time: —
Earthquake newsQuakeMap24
Archive record · original publication time was not recorded

Automatically generated from measurement data by QuakeMap24. Values may change after further analysis.

Magnitude
M5.5
Depth
40.1 km
Source
USGS

96 km SW of Basco, Philippines

Map

M5.5 Earthquake near 96 km SW of Basco, Philippines · 2025-12-18 — Map showing the location of the epicenter
M5.5 Earthquake near 96 km SW of Basco, Philippines · 2025-12-18 — Map showing the location of the epicenter

About this earthquake

On December 18, 2025 at 07:27 UTC, a magnitude M5.5 earthquake occurred near 96 km SW of Basco, Philippines. With a focal depth of about 40 km, this was a shallow earthquake, whose shaking is usually felt more strongly at the surface. Earthquakes of this magnitude can damage poorly built structures.

The event was recorded by USGS.

Details

ID
2ac6f21e8e0dc5795f6b958de2e6679f4353915e
Magnitude
M5.5
Depth
40.1 km
UTC time
2025-12-18 07:27:47 UTC
Local time
—
Country
—
Source
usgs
Coordinates
19.90690, 121.24250
Temperature
25.2°C

Depth profile

Depth profile Depth: 40.1 km (Shallow) Surface Shallow Intermediate Deep 0 km 70 km 300 km 700 km 40.1 km
Shallow
40.1 km
Why depth matters

Shallow quakes release energy near the surface — shaking is felt more strongly and damage potential is higher.

Depth classes per USGS

Nearby population centers

Distances are straight-line distances from the epicenter. Population data: GeoNames.

PlaceDistanceDirectionPopulation
Sanchez-Mira149.6 kmS26'292
Laoag201.8 kmS112'117
Kaohsiung City316.3 kmN2'737'660

GeoNames · CC BY 4.0

Volcanoes nearby

  • Babuyan Claro
    Distance: 85 km ·Stratovolcano(es) ·Elevation: 1'064 m ·Last eruption: 1924 ·Philippines
  • Iraya
    Distance: 102 km ·Stratovolcano ·Elevation: 1'009 m ·Last eruption: 1454 ·Philippines
  • Camiguin de Babuyanes
    Distance: 136 km ·Stratovolcano ·Elevation: 712 m ·Last eruption: 1857 ·Philippines
  • Didicas
    Distance: 136 km ·Compound ·Elevation: 228 m ·Last eruption: 1978 ·Philippines
  • Cagua
    Distance: 209 km ·Stratovolcano ·Elevation: 1'133 m ·Last eruption: 1860 ·Philippines

Radius · 100 km

Nearby infrastructure

Up to 3 nearest sites per category

Airports

  • Basco AirportPhilippines · BSO · RPUO
    97.9 kmStraight-line distance

Source: OurAirports · Dataset date: 2026-10-05

This selection shows geographic proximity, not a hazard zone or confirmed impacts. Distances use recorded site coordinates. Sources & data dates

Subsequent earthquakes nearby

Events recorded after this earthquake within 150 km. They are not automatically classified as aftershocks.

First 6 hours5
First 24 hours7
First 72 hours8
Strongest subsequent eventM5.5
M5.52025-12-18 07:27:48 UTC0.1 km96 km SW of Basco, Philippines M3.92025-12-18 07:33:28 UTC18.9 kmBABUYAN ISL REGION, PHILIPPINES M3.52025-12-18 08:38:52 UTC49.0 kmBABUYAN ISL REGION, PHILIPPINES M3.82025-12-18 10:01:30 UTC5.1 kmBABUYAN ISL REGION, PHILIPPINES M3.12025-12-18 13:04:24 UTC59.1 kmBATAN ISL REGION, PHILIPPINES M4.02025-12-18 20:29:57 UTC105.2 kmLUZON, PHILIPPINES M4.22025-12-19 05:33:24 UTC68.7 kmLUZON, PHILIPPINES M3.02025-12-21 02:41:35 UTC9.6 kmBABUYAN ISL REGION, PHILIPPINES M3.62025-12-21 07:33:57 UTC64.8 kmBABUYAN ISL REGION, PHILIPPINES M3.22025-12-21 10:38:17 UTC12.5 kmBATAN ISL REGION, PHILIPPINES M3.22025-12-28 02:33:58 UTC28.1 kmBABUYAN ISL REGION, PHILIPPINES M4.12025-12-29 01:53:50 UTC99.2 kmBABUYAN ISL REGION, PHILIPPINES

No unambiguous area assignment

Context for this earthquake

This event has no unambiguous country assignment in the analysed catalogue. It is therefore not assigned to a regional profile.

Earthquake overview

Historical context nearby

Comparison with recorded earthquakes before this event within 150 km.

Magnitude rank#3
Earlier events M≥445
Earlier events M≥512
Compared since2025-02-06

The QuakeMap24 comparison dataset begins on 2024-03-23. Earlier earthquakes may not be included.

Strongest earlier events

M5.92025-07-20 05:45:32 UTC36.8 km98 km SSW of Basco, Philippines M5.72025-07-20 05:45:29 UTC49.3 kmPhilippine Islands Region M5.52025-12-18 07:27:46 UTC12.4 kmPhilippine Islands Region M5.52025-07-20 05:45:32 UTC36.8 kmBABUYAN ISL REGION, PHILIPPINES M5.42025-04-27 17:18:27 UTC78.3 km69 km N of Claveria, Philippines

Stats (last 24h)

Global (24h)
569
Country (24h)
—
—
Current earthquakes in
Magnitude Place Local time
No recent events available.

Share