The Earth RecordSunday, 4 October 2026 (UTC)

← Back to the summary for 4 Oct

The detail behind the day

The Pacific is unusually warm.

Earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more

16earthquakes on the day

Strongest first. Magnitude is a log scale: each whole step is about 32 times more energy. Depth is how far below the surface the quake began; shallow ones shake the ground harder.

Time (UTC)MagnitudeDepthWhereCountry
11:125.110 kmVolcano Islands, Japan regionJapan
20:275.0236 kmnear Jurm, AfghanistanAfghanistan
14:065.010 kmsouth of PanamaOpen ocean
11:435.010 kmnear Feke, TurkeyTürkiye
10:135.010 kmnear Ruteng, IndonesiaIndonesia
01:384.990 kmnear Lae, Papua New GuineaPapua New Guinea
10:524.810 kmnear Ruteng, IndonesiaIndonesia
11:364.710 kmnear Feke, TurkeyTürkiye
11:194.710 kmnear Saimbeyli, TurkeyTürkiye
05:574.710 kmnear Colonia, MicronesiaMicronesia
12:364.653 kmnear Dampit, IndonesiaIndonesia
11:094.6162 kmnear Kokopo, Papua New GuineaPapua New Guinea
07:564.610 kmWest Chile RiseOpen ocean
05:554.660 kmnear Chauk, Burma (Myanmar)Myanmar (Burma)
20:164.550 kmnear Kuril’sk, RussiaRussia
01:474.510 kmSouth Sandwich Islands regionOpen ocean

Where most of them struck

Indonesia
3 · largest 5.0
Türkiye
3 · largest 5.0
Papua New Guinea
2 · largest 4.9
Japan
1 · largest 5.1
Afghanistan
1 · largest 5.0
Micronesia
1 · largest 4.7
Myanmar (Burma)
1 · largest 4.6
Russia
1 · largest 4.5

3 more happened out at sea, away from any country’s borders.

Counting smaller ones too, 57 earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more were logged worldwide. How many small quakes are recorded depends on how many seismometers are nearby, so this number is not compared with other years.

Source: USGS Earthquake Hazards Program. Magnitudes and places can be revised by USGS for weeks after an event.

Volcanoes

32 more volcanoes on NASA’s activity tracker
AlertVolcano
NASA trackerAira Volcano, Japan
NASA trackerAmbae Volcano, Vanuatu
NASA trackerBezymianny Volcano, Russia
NASA trackerDukono Volcano, Indonesia
NASA trackerFuego Volcano, Guatemala
NASA trackerIbu Volcano, Indonesia
NASA trackerIvao Group Volcano, Russia
NASA trackerKanlaon Volcano, Philippines
NASA trackerKikai Volcano, Japan
NASA trackerKilauea Volcano, Hawaii
NASA trackerKrasheninnikov Volcano, Russia
NASA trackerLangila Volcano, Papua New Guinea
NASA trackerLewotobi Volcano, Indonesia
NASA trackerLewotolok Volcano, Indonesia
NASA trackerMarapi Volcano, Indonesia
NASA trackerMasaya Volcano, Nicaragua
NASA trackerMayon Volcano, Philippines
NASA trackerMerapi Volcano, Indonesia
NASA trackerNevados del Chillan Volcano, Chile
NASA trackerPopocatepetl Volcano, Mexico
NASA trackerPuracé Volcano, Colombia
NASA trackerReventador Volcano, Ecuador
NASA trackerRincon de la Vieja Volcano, Costa Rica
NASA trackerSabancaya Volcano, Peru
NASA trackerSangay Volcano, Ecuador
NASA trackerSanta Maria Volcano, Guatemala
NASA trackerSemeru Volcano, Indonesia
NASA trackerSheveluch Volcano, Russia
NASA trackerStromboli Volcano, Italy
NASA trackerSuwanosejima Volcano, Japan
NASA trackerTelica Volcano, Nicaragua
NASA trackerTitan Ridge Volcano, Papua New Guinea

Colour codes are the aviation scale: green is normal, yellow an advisory, orange a watch, red a warning. USGS rates US volcanoes only; the others come from NASA’s tracker of volcanoes with recent activity reports.

Sources: USGS Volcano Hazards Program, NASA EONET and USGS earthquakes for Campi Flegrei and Vesuvius.

Space weather

Kind of eventHighest level reached
Geomagnetic stormNone
Radio blackoutNone
Solar radiation stormNone

Source: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center.

Climate readings

MeasureLatest valueReading dateHow it comparesSource
Pacific sea temperature (Niño 3.4)+3.2 °C against normalWeek to 30 Sep3rd highest weekly reading since 1981NOAA CPC
Arctic sea ice extent5.8 million km²4 Oct20% below the 1981–2010 average; 17th lowest of 44 years for the dateNSIDC
Antarctic sea ice extent16.8 million km²4 Oct9% below the 1981–2010 average; 1st lowest of 44 years for the dateNSIDC
Carbon dioxide, Mauna Loa425.9 ppm4 Oct1.6 ppm higher than a year earlierNOAA GML
Antarctic ozone hole24.9 million km²4 Oct7th largest for the date since 1979; thinnest part 114 Dobson unitsNASA

These move slowly, so the latest reading may be a few days old. The summary page draws each one as a chart.