Moderate · M5.0–5.9
Moderate earthquakes can damage poorly-constructed or older buildings and are felt over a wide area. Well-engineered structures usually ride them out.
Class
Moderate
Per year (global)
~1,300
Last 12 months
1,430
Since 1900
87,496
Largest recorded
M6.0
Moderate earthquakes can damage poorly-constructed or older buildings and are felt over a wide area. Well-engineered structures usually ride them out.
Typical effects. Furniture moves, weak masonry cracks, and vulnerable buildings can be damaged near the epicentre. Landslides are possible on steep slopes.
Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step is about 32× more energy, so a magnitude 5 releases far more energy than the band below it. But felt shaking and damage also depend on depth, distance and local geology.
The most recent events recorded in the M5.0–5.9 range, worldwide.
September 9, 2026 · 10 km deep
September 1, 2026 · 113 km deep
August 22, 2026 · 108 km deep
August 22, 2026 · 10 km deep
August 21, 2026 · 10 km deep
August 21, 2026 · 10 km deep
August 13, 2026 · 55 km deep
August 13, 2026 · 91 km deep
August 9, 2026 · 35 km deep
August 7, 2026 · 90 km deep
August 5, 2026 · 10 km deep
August 5, 2026 · 35 km deep
July 29, 2026 · 46 km deep
July 29, 2026 · 10 km deep
July 29, 2026 · 64 km deep
July 29, 2026 · 54 km deep
July 27, 2026 · 71 km deep
July 25, 2026 · 52 km deep
July 21, 2026 · 69 km deep
July 18, 2026 · 10 km deep
July 17, 2026 · 80 km deep
July 14, 2026 · 11 km deep
July 14, 2026 · 10 km deep
July 13, 2026 · 20 km deep
July 13, 2026 · 10 km deep
July 11, 2026 · 62 km deep
July 11, 2026 · 57 km deep
July 9, 2026 · 104 km deep
July 7, 2026 · 37 km deep
July 6, 2026 · 35 km deep
FAQ
Moderate earthquakes can damage poorly-constructed or older buildings and are felt over a wide area. Well-engineered structures usually ride them out. On the moment-magnitude scale, magnitude 5 covers M5.0–5.9. Furniture moves, weak masonry cracks, and vulnerable buildings can be damaged near the epicentre. Landslides are possible on steep slopes.
About ~1,300 earthquakes in the M5.0–5.9 range occur worldwide each year. Our catalog recorded 1,430 in the last 12 months and 87,496 since 1900.
Furniture moves, weak masonry cracks, and vulnerable buildings can be damaged near the epicentre. Landslides are possible on steep slopes. Impact depends far more on depth, distance to people and building quality than on magnitude alone — a shallow magnitude 5 under a city is far more dangerous than a deep one far offshore.