The Earth RecordTuesday, 6 October 2026 (UTC)

← Back to the summary for 6 Oct

The detail behind the day

The Pacific is unusually warm.

Earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more

18earthquakes 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
16:485.829 kmnear Severo-Kuril’sk, RussiaRussia
18:345.588 kmnear Aleneva, AlaskaUnited States
16:535.117 kmnear Bāgeshwar, IndiaIndia
13:115.010 kmnear Semporna, MalaysiaMalaysia
21:564.972 kmnear Abepura, IndonesiaIndonesia
18:154.910 kmnear Turpan, ChinaChina
08:454.921 kmnear Kokopo, Papua New GuineaPapua New Guinea
04:404.910 kmState of Yap, Federated States of MicronesiaMicronesia
17:474.835 kmnear Shikotan, RussiaRussia
03:424.89 kmnear Ruteng, IndonesiaIndonesia
15:124.710 kmChagos Archipelago regionOpen ocean
06:164.7122 kmnear Ollagüe, ChileChile
20:154.6144 kmnear Mataram, IndonesiaIndonesia
04:284.610 kmIzu Islands, Japan regionJapan
22:124.566 kmKermadec Islands, New ZealandNew Zealand
19:024.593 kmnear Bengkulu, IndonesiaIndonesia
13:264.5538 kmKermadec Islands regionOpen ocean
06:544.5192 kmnear Colchani, BoliviaBolivia

Where most of them struck

Indonesia
4 · largest 4.9
Russia
2 · largest 5.8
United States
1 · largest 5.5
India
1 · largest 5.1
Malaysia
1 · largest 5.0
China
1 · largest 4.9
Micronesia
1 · largest 4.9
Papua New Guinea
1 · largest 4.9
Chile
1 · largest 4.7
Japan
1 · largest 4.6

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

Counting smaller ones too, 65 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 extent6.0 million km²6 Oct19% below the 1981–2010 average; 18th lowest of 44 years for the dateNSIDC
Antarctic sea ice extent16.7 million km²6 Oct9% below the 1981–2010 average; 2nd lowest of 44 years for the dateNSIDC
Carbon dioxide, Mauna Loa426.4 ppm6 Oct2.1 ppm higher than a year earlierNOAA GML
Antarctic ozone hole24.9 million km²6 Oct7th largest for the date since 1979; thinnest part 120 Dobson unitsNASA

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