M3.9 earthquake – Maug Islands region, Northern Mariana Islands
A magnitude 3.9 earthquake struck in the Maug Islands region, Northern Mariana Islands region at 18:50 UTC on 12 Sept 2026, at a depth of 172 km, according to USGS.
Data: USGS · updated 2026-09-25 13:22 UTC · reviewed
- Magnitude
- 3.9minor
body-wave magnitude (mb) - Depth
- 172 km
- Status
- Reviewed
- Origin time
- 2026-09-12 18:50:40 UTC
- Epicentre
- 20.164° N, 144.998° E
Circles show this event and others within 30 km from 7 days before to 30 days after. Lines: plate boundaries and GEM active faults. Open on the live map
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Est. shaking |
|---|---|---|
| No towns within 400 km. This is a remote area. | ||
Shaking is an estimate from the intensity prediction equation of Allen, Wald & Worden (2012), not an observation. Local ground and buildings can change it by a level or more.
Every agency's solution
Agencies locate earthquakes with their own stations and methods, so their numbers differ. We match reports of the same event by time, distance and magnitude and show them side by side. The headline uses USGS, which has been reviewed by an analyst.
| Agency | Magnitude | Depth | Epicentre | Time offset | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USGSheadlineUSGS NEIC via U.S. Geological Survey | 3.9 mb | 172 km | 20.16° N, 145.00° E | – | Reviewed |
How big was it?
Often felt by people at rest close to the epicentre, rarely causes damage.
It released roughly the energy of 11 t of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step means about 32 times more energy and 10 times larger waves on a seismogram. Depth matters too: at 172 km this was a intermediate-depth earthquake, which spreads shaking over a wider area but less intensely.
M3.9 releases about 32× the energy of M2.9, and its waves are about 10× taller on a seismogram. Energy: 11 t of TNT vs 338 kg of TNT.
Each square is the energy of one M2.9. Energy from log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8.
Aftershocks and nearby activity
No later earthquakes have been recorded within 30 km so far. Aftershock rates usually fall off roughly in proportion to 1/time.
Did you feel it?
Reports from people help show where shaking was strong. They are anonymous and shown here in aggregate.
Reports close 14 days after an earthquake.
Reports on SeismoAtlas
No reports yet.
Event id us7000ti4c. First recorded here 28 Sept 2026, 17:32:11 UTC. Solutions: USGS (usgs:us7000ti4c). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M3.9 earthquake – Maug Islands region, Northern Mariana Islands”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/us7000ti4c-m3-9-earthquake-maug-islands-region-northern-mariana-islands, data from USGS.
JSON: /api/v1/events/us7000ti4c. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.