M4.2 earthquake – Bonin Islands, Japan Region
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck in the Bonin Islands, Japan region at 02:40 UTC on 4 Nov 2026, at a depth of 429 km, according to USGS and GFZ.
Reported by 2 agencies
Data: USGS, GFZ · updated 2026-11-04 03:05 UTC · reviewed
- Magnitude
- 4.2light
body-wave magnitude (mb) - Depth
- 429.4 km
- Status
- Reviewed
- Origin time
- 2026-11-04 02:40:29 UTC
- Epicentre
- 27.077° N, 140.293° 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.
How big was it?
Widely felt near the epicentre: rattling windows and objects. Significant damage is unlikely.
It released roughly the energy of 30 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 429 km this was a deep earthquake, which spreads shaking over a wider area but less intensely.
M4.2 releases about 32× the energy of M3.2, and its waves are about 10× taller on a seismogram. Energy: 30 t of TNT vs 951 kg of TNT.
Each square is the energy of one M3.2. Energy from log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8.
Aftershocks and nearby activity
1 later earthquake within 30 km; the largest was M4.2 7 days ago. Aftershock rates usually fall off roughly in proportion to 1/time.
Mainshock M4.2
1 later earthquake nearby. Aftershock rates typically fall off roughly as 1/time (Omori's law).
| Time after mainshock (hours) | Magnitude | Depth (km) |
|---|---|---|
| 59.21 | 4.2 | 450 |
Did you feel it?
Reports from people help show where shaking was strong. They are anonymous and shown here in aggregate.
Reports on SeismoAtlas
No reports yet.
Event id us7000tvvc. First recorded here 4 Nov 2026, 03:06:13 UTC. Solutions: USGS (usgs:us7000tvvc); GFZ (geofon:gfz2026vpct). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M4.2 earthquake – Bonin Islands, Japan Region”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/us7000tvvc-m4-2-earthquake-bonin-islands-japan-region, data from USGS, GFZ.
JSON: /api/v1/events/us7000tvvc. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.