QuakeShake

A magnitude 1.6 (Local Magnitude/ML) earthquake occurred offshore Irelans on the 17th of July 2026 at 23:51:55 UTC time. It shows as Magnitude 2.0 but this is the Vertical component Local Magnitude/MLv.

Earthquakes can occur at the boundary between the Rockall Trough and the Porcupine Bank because this region contains ancient faults that formed when the Earth's crust was stretched during the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean. The Rockall Trough is a deep sedimentary basin, while the Porcupine Bank is a raised block of continental crust, and the transition between them is marked by zones of weakness in the crust. Although the area is not located on a major tectonic plate boundary, stresses generated by regional plate movements and ongoing crustal adjustment can build up along these faults. When the accumulated stress becomes greater than the strength of a fault, it slips suddenly, releasing energy as seismic waves and causing an earthquake. As a result, earthquakes in this region are mainly caused by the reactivation of ancient faults rather than by active plate-boundary activity 〰️

Image 2. Is the location of the earthquake from Raspberry Shakes Station View website. Images 3. and 4. are waveform plots of the seismic waves from the earthquake recorded by Irish Raspberry Shake seismometers.

In Image 3. Each horizontal panel represents a different seismic station, with time shown along the x-axis in minutes after the earthquake. The pink waveforms show the ground motion recorded at each station.

In Image 4. Each vertical trace represents data from a different seismic station. The horizontal axis shows the distance between the earthquake and each station, while the vertical axis shows time after the earthquake in seconds. The pink wiggles represent the seismic waves or ground motion recorded by the seismometer.

Plots made by INSN technical officer Paddy Smith.

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck south of Mindanao, Philippines, at approximately 7:37 a.m. local time on 8 June 2026, causing strong shaking across the region. The USGS estimated that around 22 million people experienced moderate (MMI V) to severe shaking (MMI VIII), with more than one million exposed to intensity VIII shaking. So far there have been reports of buildings collapsing and fatalities. At the time of writing there have been 15 fatalities and 120 injured but this number is expected to rise.

The Philippines is situated within one of the world's most complex and active tectonic setting. This earthquake occurred within a zone where the Philippine Sea Plate converges (moves towards) surrounding plates, including the Sunda Plate. At this location, the Philippine Plate is moving toward the Sunda Plate at a rate of approximately 7.3 centimeters per year (USGS, 2026). This earthquake may be what is known as an "intraslab earthquake" as this earthquake occured as the subducting plate bends and deforms while sinking into the Earth's mantle at a great depth 55.2 km to the epicente. The location of this earthquake is likely along the subducting Cotobato Trench.

Large earthquakes are not uncommon in the southern Philippines. The region surrounding the June 2026 event has experienced at least 35 earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or greater within a 300-kilometer radius since 1900. The largest known event in the area was a magnitude 8.3 earthquake in 1918, located west of the recent epicenter. More recently, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake occurred on October 10th 2025, resulting in multiple fatalities see our post below for more information.

This earthquake was recorded by our Irish Raspberry Shake seismometers in the waveform plots that you see in the images 3-5. We usually post the waveform from Raspberry Shake's Shakenet phone app (Image 6.) but this earthquake was not well recorded (no clear P or S waves) due to the travel path of the 1st wave diffraction along the core mantle boundary and the small time window settings. Image 7. Is the path the seismic waves travelled through the Earth from the Philippines to Ireland.

On the 1st of June 2026, at 22:12:36 UTC, a large earthquake measuring M6.2 struck at a depth of 250km offshore southern Italy. The epicentre is located approximately 20km west of the Italian province of Cosenza, in the region of Calabria.

Despite the large magnitude, the event was only weakly felt (with average intensity IV on the Modified Mercalli Scale) throughout the regions of Calabria, Basilicata, Apulia and Sicily, with no damage reported at the time of writing. This is most likely due to the earthquake having occurred at such a large depth. Deep earthquakes (ie. those that occur greater than 100km deep) usually tend to occur only in subduction zones, where one tectonic plate is forced beneath another along a plate boundary. According to Italian National Institute of Geophsyics and Vulcanology (INGV), the earthquake is linked to the subduction of the Ionian lithosphere beneath Calabria, a geological process typical of the southern Tyrrhenian Sea. The area is characterised by frequent deep seismic activity and has previously recorded earthquakes of magnitude greater than M5.

Earthquakes are generally not believed to occur at depths greater than 700km beneath the Earth’s surface, as the temperature at this depth is high enough that rocks become ductile instead of brittle, preventing the sudden ruptures that cause earthquakes.

Waveform plot made by INSN technical officer Paddy and highlighting our Geopark and Waterford public meeting Shakes 〰️

A M6.9 earthquake has occurred northern in Northern Chile on 25 May 2026 at 21:52 UTC. The earthquake occurred approximately 29 km east-northeast of Calama in the Antofagasta Region, at a depth of 109 km. The earthquake occurred within one of the most seismically active regions in the world, along the boundary where the Nazca Plate is subducting beneath the South American Plate. This tectonic setting is responsible for many of Chile’s largest and most destructive earthquakes. Intermediate-depth earthquakes such as this one commonly occur within the descending Nazca Plate beneath the Andes Mountains.

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), residents in Calama and surrounding communities reported strong shaking, and some temporary power and water interruptions occurred following the event. Chilean authorities also reported minor landslides within the Antofagasta Region. However, there were no immediate reports of fatalities or major structural damage.

Chile experiences frequent earthquakes due to its location along the Pacific Ring of Fire. The country has a long history of major seismic events, including the 1960 Valdivia earthquake — the largest instrumentally recorded earthquake in history at magnitude 9.5.

Oh goly gosh last week was busy😃 Here is a throwback to some of the highlights:

Friday we attended the National Marine Environment Conference organised by and 👏 🌊 Our highlight was incredible presentation of the fin whale calls they recorded with their QuakeShake seismometer 🐋 We had our own display stand with an Orca and Raspberry Shake seismometer recording the event🎤 〰️ .collins.3766

Also on Friday, UCD professor Aline Melo displayed one of our Raspberry Shakes at her daughter's primary school show and tell in Co. Wicklow. One of the students enjoyed irish dancing beside the shake 👯‍♀️

Thursday we presented for
Marine Week live webinar about the QuakeShake programme and fin whales 🙂

Wednesday to Monday we attended the British Seismology Meeting in Leeds Univeristy England and presented a presentation and poster. A highlight was learning alot about other seismology outreach programmes 👍

Overall a fantastic week and thanks to all the incredible organisers!

On the 20th April 2026, at 07:53:00 UTC (17:53:00 local time), a powerful earthquake measuring M7.4 struck at a depth of 35km offshore Honshu, about 100 km ENE from Miyako, see the red circle marking the epicentre in the map in picture 2.The earthquake resulted from thrust faulting in the subduction zone between the Pacific and North America plates. A tsunami was triggered and according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) about 40 minutes after the earthquake origin time an 80-centimetre wave hit a port in Kuji in Iwate. A tsunami warning was issued for Japan’s coastline, with waves expected to reach up to 3 meters, but the threat did not materialize, and authorities lifted the warning shortly afterward. No damage has been reported so far, but the earthquake was felt in buildings as far away as Tokyo, approximately 400 kilometers from the epicenter.