World Earthquake Report for Sunday, 16 November 2025 (2025)

Imagine a world where the ground beneath your feet is constantly shifting. A world where, in a single day, hundreds of earthquakes ripple across the globe. That's the reality we faced on November 16, 2025. Let's dive into the Worldwide Earthquake Report for that day, brought to you by EarthquakeMonitor, to understand the scale of seismic activity. This report was compiled on Sunday, November 16, 2025, at 05:20, providing a snapshot of the preceding 24 hours. Keep in mind that this is a dynamic situation, with updates rolling in every hour to keep you informed of the latest developments.

A Seismic Overview:

In the 24-hour period ending November 16, 2025, our planet experienced a total of 504 earthquakes with a magnitude of 2.0 or greater. Let's break that down:

• Magnitude 5.0 or Higher: 5 earthquakes
• Magnitude 4.0 or Higher: 44 earthquakes
• Magnitude 3.0 or Higher: 123 earthquakes
• Magnitude 2.0 or Higher: 332 earthquakes

Thankfully, there were no earthquakes of magnitude 6 or higher.

And this is the part most people miss: The sheer number of smaller quakes often goes unnoticed, but they contribute significantly to the overall seismic activity. While a single massive earthquake grabs headlines, it's the constant hum of these smaller tremors that truly defines the Earth's dynamic nature.

Energy Unleashed:

The cumulative energy released by these earthquakes is estimated at 3.4 x 10^13 joules. To put that in perspective, that's equivalent to 9.54 gigawatt hours of energy! Or, if you prefer a more explosive comparison, it's roughly equal to 8,206 tons of TNT or about 0.5 atomic bombs. However, all that energy is equivalent to the energy released by one quake of magnitude 5.8. To understand how earthquake magnitude relates to energy released, check out this resource: https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/earthquakes/energy.html

The Top 10 Earthquakes (Past 24 Hours):

Here's a rundown of the 10 largest earthquakes recorded worldwide during the specified period. Note that times are listed in both local time and GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) to help you place these events in context.

1. Magnitude 5.4: Sulawesi Utara, 298 km northwest of Tobelo, Indonesia (Saturday, Nov 15, 2025, at 01:33 pm Makassar time) - Earthquake Details
2. Magnitude 5.2: Balleny Islands Region (Saturday, Nov 15, 2025, at 04:23 pm GMT +11) - Earthquake Details
3. Magnitude 5.1: South Pacific Ocean, Tonga (Saturday, Nov 15, 2025, at 08:52 pm GMT +13) - Earthquake Details
4. Magnitude 5.0: 68 km southwest of Vallenar, Huasco, Region de Atacama, Chile (Saturday, Nov 15, 2025, at 03:13 am Santiago time) - Earthquake Details
5. Magnitude 5.0: South Atlantic Ocean, 153 km north of Visokoi Island, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (Saturday, Nov 15, 2025, at 10:00 pm GMT -2) - Earthquake Details
6. Magnitude 4.9: 106 km north of Cebu City, Province of Cebu, Central Visayas, Philippines (Saturday, Nov 15, 2025, at 03:38 pm Manila time) - Earthquake Details
7. Magnitude 4.9: North Atlantic Ocean, 160 km east of La Desirade Island, Guadeloupe (Saturday, Nov 15, 2025, at 11:43 am GMT -4) - Earthquake Details
8. Magnitude 4.9: South Pacific Ocean, 83 km west of Nuku'alofa, Tongatapu, Tonga (Sunday, Nov 16, 2025, at 04:46 am GMT +13) - Earthquake Details
9. Magnitude 4.8: North Pacific Ocean, 89 km east of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Kamchatka, Russia (Sunday, Nov 16, 2025, at 02:57 pm Kamchatka time) - Earthquake Details
10. Magnitude 4.7: 20 km southeast of Kashmor, Sindh, Pakistan (Saturday, Nov 15, 2025, at 05:28 pm Karachi time) - Earthquake Details

Earthquakes Reported Felt:

While the magnitude provides a measure of the earthquake's energy, the "felt" reports indicate the impact on the human population. Larger earthquakes don't always translate to being widely felt, as factors like depth and population density play a role. Here are some of the earthquakes that were reported felt, along with the number of reports:

1. Magnitude 2.1: 5.1 km south of San Jose del Cabo, Estado de Baja California Sur, Mexico (65 reports) - Earthquake Details
2. Magnitude 4.9: 106 km north of Cebu City, Province of Cebu, Central Visayas, Philippines (45 reports) - Earthquake Details
3. Magnitude 4.5: North Pacific Ocean, 44 km south of Puntarenas, Costa Rica (24 reports) - Earthquake Details
4. Magnitude 4.0: Indian Ocean, 76 km south of Nusa Penida Island, Provinsi Bali, Indonesia (20 reports) - Earthquake Details
5. Magnitude 3.6: 46 km north of Moose Factory, Cochrane District, Ontario, Canada (16 reports) - Earthquake Details
6. Magnitude 4.2: North Pacific Ocean, 26 km west of Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, Mexico (11 reports) - Earthquake Details
7. Magnitude 5.0: 68 km southwest of Vallenar, Huasco, Region de Atacama, Chile (10 reports) - Earthquake Details
8. Magnitude 4.0: Aegean Sea, 24 km south of Tenedos Island, Canakkale, Turkey (10 reports) - Earthquake Details
9. Magnitude 4.4: 67 km southeast of Balikesir, Balikesir, Turkey (9 reports) - Earthquake Details
10. Magnitude 4.7: 94 km south of La Serena, Provincia de Elqui, Region de Coquimbo, Chile (7 reports) - Earthquake Details
11. Magnitude 4.8: North Pacific Ocean, 89 km east of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Kamchatka, Russia (6 reports) - Earthquake Details
12. Magnitude 5.4: Sulawesi Utara, 298 km northwest of Tobelo, Indonesia (6 reports) - Earthquake Details
13. Magnitude 3.3: Ionian Sea, 38 km southeast of Pyrgos, Ilia Prefecture, West Greece, Greece (5 reports) - Earthquake Details
14. Magnitude 4.0: 8.3 km east of Paita, Piura, Peru (4 reports) - Earthquake Details
15. Magnitude 2.4: 21 km north of Almeria, Almeria, Andalusia, Spain (3 reports) - Earthquake Details
16. Magnitude 2.5: Valle d'Aosta, Aosta Valley, Italy (3 reports) - Earthquake Details
17. Magnitude 2.3: 5.4 km southwest of San Jose del Cabo, Estado de Baja California Sur, Mexico (3 reports) - Earthquake Details
18. Magnitude 4.3: 26 km west of Takayama, Gifu, Japan (3 reports) - Earthquake Details
19. Magnitude 3.4: North Pacific Ocean, 44 km west of San Isidro, Provincia de San Jose, Costa Rica (3 reports) - Earthquake Details
20. Magnitude 3.8: 14 km southeast of Manzanillo, Estado de Colima, Mexico (2 reports) - Earthquake Details
21. Magnitude 4.0: Sea of Japan, Ishikawa-ken, 73 km southwest of Sado, Niigata, Japan (2 reports) - Earthquake Details
22. Magnitude 3.4: Philippine Sea, 24 km southeast of Bantayan Island, Philippines (2 reports) - Earthquake Details
23. Magnitude 3.1: Philippine Sea, 22 km southeast of Bantayan Island, Philippines (2 reports) - Earthquake Details
24. Magnitude 3.9: Parinacota, 70 km east of Arica, Arica, Region de Arica y Parinacota, Chile (2 reports) - Earthquake Details
25. Magnitude 2.8: 6.5 km west of Chrzanow, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland (2 reports) - Earthquake Details
26. Magnitude 3.9: 177 km south of Soma, Manisa, Turkey (2 reports) - Earthquake Details

Earthquake Stats:

While this report focuses on a specific 24-hour period, studying earthquake statistics over time reveals important trends and patterns. Scientists analyze:

• Number of quakes and energy released over time
• Number of quakes and energy released over magnitude
• Magnitude of quakes and energy released over time

These analyses help us understand seismic activity patterns and potentially improve earthquake prediction models. But here's where it gets controversial... Some scientists believe that certain patterns, while statistically significant, are simply random occurrences, while others are convinced they hold predictive power. What do you think? Are earthquake patterns truly predictive, or just random noise? Share your thoughts in the comments below!