M6.2 earthquake in South Sandwich Islands region on September 2, 2026

Strong M6.2 quake: September 2, 2026, 23:46 UTC, epicenter South Sandwich Islands region. The rupture began 111 km below the surface. The focus was at intermediate depth, which softens the shaking at the surface compared with a shallow quake of the same size.

6.2magnitude

111 kmdepth

23:46time UTC

greenUSGS alert

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Key facts

2 people reported feeling it to USGS. The USGS PAGER system issued a green alert, expecting little impact.

Nearest cities

Punta Arenas (Chile)2,745 km
Comodoro Rivadavia (Argentina)2,949 km
Tandil (Argentina)3,121 km
Maldonado (Uruguay)3,123 km
Montevideo (Uruguay)3,184 km

Did you feel an earthquake?

Report it to seismologists. These reports help work out quickly where the shaking was strongest. It takes a minute.

Report to USGS (Did You Feel It?)Report to EMSC (LastQuake)

Aftershocks

Since then USGS has recorded 15 quakes of magnitude 4.5 or more within 150 km, the strongest M5.1.

M5.1 · Oct 19, 17:45 UTC57 km
M5.0 · Oct 22, 00:25 UTC51 km
M5.0 · Sep 19, 09:59 UTC60 km
M5.0 · Sep 4, 06:45 UTC105 km
M4.9 · Oct 7, 04:39 UTC138 km
M4.9 · Sep 29, 06:38 UTC85 km
M4.9 · Sep 12, 11:05 UTC64 km
M4.8 · Sep 28, 15:02 UTC12 km

Regional history

Since 1976 there have been 68 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 300 km. The strongest was M8.1 (August 12, 2021).

M8.1 · August 12, 2021300 km
M7.5 · August 12, 2021239 km
M7.4 · August 19, 2016267 km
M7.2 · May 28, 201660 km
M7.2 · December 27, 1991161 km