An earthquake of magnitude 5.7 occurred only 7 minutes ago 42 km southwest of Kashiwara, Japan, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) reported.The quake hit at a very shallow depth of 8. km beneath the epicenter near Kashiwara, Gose Shi, Nara, Japan, early evening on Saturday, May 2nd, 2026, at 6:28 pm local time. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.A second report was later issued by Japan's National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED), which listed it as a magnitude 6.0 earthquake.Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should have been widely felt by almost everyone in the area of the epicenter. It might have caused light to moderate damage. Moderate shaking probably occurred in Hashimoto (pop. 61,100) located 24 km from the epicenter, and Kinokawa (pop. 60,600) 25 km away.In Kawachi-Nagano (pop. 101,700) located 38 km from the epicenter, Kashiwara (pop. 120,900) 42 km away, Minato (pop. 375,300) 43 km away, Kashihara-shi (pop. 124,500) 49 km away, Kashiba (pop. 78,100) 49 km away, Osaka (pop. 2,753,900) 66 km away, and Nara-shi (pop. 367,400) 68 km away, the quake should have been felt as light shaking.VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you’re in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.Earthquake data: Date & time: May 2, 2026 06:28 pm (GMT +9) local time (2 May 2026 09:28 GMT)Magnitude: 5.7Depth: 8.00 kmEpicenter latitude / longitude: 34.1°N / 135.59°E (Tanabe Shi, Nara, Japan)Primary data source: EMSC