Significant 5.3 quake hits near Murghab, Gorno-Badakhshan, Tajikistan

A moderately shallow magnitude 5.3 earthquake was reported late at night near Murghab, Gorno-Badakhshan, Tajikistan.
According to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), the quake hit on Thursday, January 8th, 2026, at 10:00 pm local time at a moderately shallow depth of 56. km. 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 citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake which listed the quake at magnitude 5.3 as well. Other agencies reporting the same quake include France's Réseau National de Surveillance Sismique (RéNaSS) at magnitude 5.2, and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) at magnitude 5.3.
Generally quakes of this magnitude are recorded by more than one agency and the results can vary, with subsequent reports that come in after the first one often showing more accuracy.
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 Murghab (pop. 10,800) located 108 km from the epicenter.
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: Jan 8, 2026 10:00 pm (Dushanbe time) local time (8 Jan 2026 17:00 GMT)
Magnitude: 5.3
Depth: 56.00 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 37.43°N / 74.76°E (Tumxuk, Gorno-Badakhshan, Tajikistan)
Primary data source: EMSC
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