Significant earthquake of magnitude 5.1 just reported 69 km southeast of Nishinoomote, Japan

Japan was shaken near Nishinoomote, Nishinoomote Shi, Kagoshima-ken, by an earthquake of magnitude 5.1 only 15 minutes ago, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) reported.
The quake hit at a shallow depth of 28. km beneath the epicenter near Nishinoomote, Nishinoomote Shi, Kagoshima-ken, Japan, early morning on Wednesday, August 5th, 2026, at 4:56 am local time. Shallow earthquakes are felt more strongly than deeper ones as they are closer to the surface. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
Our monitoring service identified a second report from the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) which listed the quake at magnitude 5.1 as well. A third agency, the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake, reported the same quake at magnitude 5.1.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Nakanokami (pop. 5,400) located 41 km from the epicenter, Nokan (pop. 7,500) 54 km away, Koseda (pop. 11,900) 58 km away, Miyanoura (pop. 6,500) 67 km away, and Nishinoomote (pop. 17,800) 69 km away.
VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you’re in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.


Earthquake data:
Date & time: Aug 5, 2026 04:56 am (GMT +9) local time (4 Aug 2026 19:56 GMT)
Magnitude: 5.1
Depth: 28.00 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 30.13°N / 131.17°E (Kagoshima-ken, Japan)
Primary data source: EMSC
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