Malaysia

Earthquakes in Malaysia, 2017–2026

From 2017 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 7 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more in or off Malaysia. One stands far above the rest: a magnitude 7.1 on February 22, 2026 (57 km NNW of Kota Belud, Malaysia). The next strongest reached 5.5.

The last 30 days · as of

USGS recorded one earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more in the area the map frames in the last 30 days.

The latest: magnitude 5 on October 6 (51 km NNE of Semporna, Malaysia).

Live
Open the live map

The events

  • October 6, 2026Earthquake · M 5.051 km NNE of Semporna, MalaysiaUSGS
  • February 22, 2026Earthquake · M 7.157 km NNW of Kota Belud, MalaysiaUSGS
  • April 2, 2023Earthquake · M 5.556 km NNW of Kota Kinabalu, MalaysiaUSGS
  • June 30, 2020Earthquake · M 4.948 km W of Kudat, MalaysiaUSGS
  • March 8, 2018Earthquake · M 5.216 km NNW of Ranau, MalaysiaUSGS

Good to know

  • An event counts for Malaysia when it began inside its borders, or at sea within 100 km of its coast (so one can count for two neighbours), or further out, up to 300 km, where Malaysia is the nearest country.
  • USGS counts are its ComCat catalogue’s earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more, aftershocks included.
  • NOAA lists significant events only: earthquakes that killed, did about $1 million of damage, reached magnitude 7.5 or intensity X, or raised a tsunami, and eruptions and tsunamis by like measures. Magnitudes before 1900 are its estimates from written accounts.
  • Deaths are NOAA’s total for each event, wherever people died, its tsunami and fires included. A tsunami counts the dead its runup records give for this place: NOAA’s total for a tsunami includes its source quake’s.
  • A tsunami from elsewhere counts where one of its runups killed or rose a metre or more.
  • The map frames the box around Malaysia, its neighbours’ quakes included, so its count runs higher than this page’s.
  • Counted to October 19, 2026, as is the map. The last 30 days ask USGS again.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Earthquakes, live, The world through history