5.6 Quake Australia, 5.4 Guatemala

M5.6 earthquake, largest onshore in Queensland in 50 years, strikes near Kilkivan, Australia

Reet Kaur

A strong earthquake registered by Geoscience Australia as M5.6 hit near Kilkivan, Queensland at 23:49 UTC on August 15 (09:49 local time) on August 16, 2025, at a depth of 10 km (6 miles). The quake caused temporary power outages and minor structural damage, and marked the state’s largest on-shore earthquake in 50 years.

The earthquake’s epicenter was located about 80 km (50 miles) west of Noosa and 250 km (155 miles) north of Brisbane, with shaking reported across a wide area of south-east Queensland.

Geoscience Australia (GA) described the event as the most significant on-shore seismic event in the state in the past 50 years. More than 12 500 felt reports were submitted to GA within hours, with other sources noting up to 16 000 reports from communities as far north as Cairns and as far south as Wollongong. Tremors were widely felt in Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Bundaberg, and surrounding towns.

Moderate earthquake, 5.4 mag strikes near Puerto San José in Guatemala

A moderate earthquake magnitude 5.4 (ml/mb) has occurred on Sunday, 83 kilometers (52 miles) from Puerto San José in Guatemala. The temblor was picked up at 05:59:51 / 5:59 am (local time epicenter). All ids that are associated to the event: us6000r1p8. Unique identifier: us6000r1p8. Exact location of event, longitude -91.0754 West, latitude 13.2167 North, depth = 10 km.