A magnitude-5.5 earthquake near Palermo, Province of Palermo, Sicily, Italy, was reported only 5 minutes ago by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), considered one of the key international agencies monitoring seismic activity worldwide. The earthquake occurred at a shallow depth of 10. km beneath the epicenter around noon on Friday, October 23rd, 2026, at 12:19 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 reports.Our monitoring service identified a second report from the citizen-seismograph network RaspberryShake, which also listed the quake at magnitude 5.5. A third agency, the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), reported the same quake at magnitude 5.4.Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake was probably felt by many people in the area of the epicenter. It should not have caused significant damage, other than objects falling from shelves, broken windows, etc. Weak shaking might have been felt in Cefalu (pop. 11,600), located 75 km from the epicenter; Capo d'Orlando (pop. 12,000), 76 km away; Termini Imerese (pop. 23,000), 91 km away; Bagheria (pop. 53,100), 92 km away; Villabate (pop. 19,000), 96 km away; Palermo (pop. 648,300), 98 km away; Misilmeri (pop. 19,200), 100 km away; and Messina (pop. 219,900), 129 km away.VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update the magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake becomes 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: Oct 23, 2026 10:19 am (Universal Time) local time (23 Oct 2026 10:19 GMT)Magnitude: 5.5Hypocenter depth: 10.00 kmEpicenter coordinates: 38.68°N / 14.14°E (Province of Messina, Sicily, Italy)Primary data source: EMSC