A magnitude 5.0 earthquake near Kesennuma, Kesennuma Shi, Miyagi, Japan, was reported only 12 minutes ago by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), considered one of the key international agencies that monitor seismic activity worldwide. The earthquake occurred at a moderately shallow depth of 32. km beneath the epicenter in the morning on Friday, July 3rd, 2026, at 10:44 am 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 the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), which listed it as a magnitude 5.1 earthquake. Other agencies reporting the same quake include the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) at magnitude 5.0, France's Réseau National de Surveillance Sismique (RéNaSS) at magnitude 5.1, and the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake at magnitude 5.0.Generally quakes of this magnitude are recorded by more than one agency and the results can vary, with subsequent reports that come in after the first one often showing more accuracy.Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter. Weak shaking might have been felt in Ofunato (pop. 35,500) located 61 km from the epicenter, Rikuzen-Takata (pop. 18,300) 63 km away, Kamaishi (pop. 43,100) 64 km away, Kesennuma (pop. 61,100) 67 km away, Yamada (pop. 15,200) 78 km away, Tono (pop. 26,100) 88 km away, Miyako (pop. 51,200) 97 km away, and Ishinomaki (pop. 140,200) 102 km away.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: Jul 3, 2026 10:44 am (GMT +9) local time (3 Jul 2026 01:44 GMT)Magnitude: 5.0Depth: 32.00 kmEpicenter latitude / longitude: 38.83°N / 142.35°E (Iwate, Japan)Primary data source: EMSC