Smart Cable Routing
Dijkstra-based routing through real submarine cables and landing points from the industry cable inventory. Accurate distance multipliers for land and undersea segments.
In-depth analysis of how internet traffic moves through 723 submarine cable systems, based on real measurements from our probes worldwide.
On October 8, 2026, the Taal Volcano in the Philippines experienced an eruption, emitting ash clouds and triggering an Orange aviation alert level. According to the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS), the event has a medium humanitarian impact, with approximately 3.5 million people living within 30 km of the volcano and over 32 million within 100 km. The eruption's Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) is rated at 6, reflecting its significant scale. Authorities and monitoring agencies continue to assess the situation and provide updates.
Submarine cable systems in the region demonstrated strong resilience during this event. The APCN-2, Asia Direct Cable (ADC), and EAC-C2C systems, all of which land in Batangas (28 km from the volcano), maintained steady performance. For example, EAC-C2C, which connects key hubs in Asia, upheld its average latency of approximately 82 ms during the event. Similarly, the Southeast Asia-Japan Cable (SJC), landing at Nasugbu (41 km from Taal), continued to operate with its typical latency of around 195 ms. These systems are critical for regional and international connectivity, and their stability underscores the robustness of the infrastructure.
Our monitoring systems remain actively engaged, with 2,429 latency checks conducted across 720 submarine cable systems in the past 24 hours. Continuous real-time oversight ensures the reliability of these vital communication pathways, even in the face of natural events.
On October 8, 2026, GeoCables' network monitoring for the past 24 hours showed an overall healthy state with no anomalies detected and only one active alert. While this is a quiet day in terms of major disruptions, it's important to note that even small fluctuations in latency can indicate normal operational jitter, especially during weather events like tropical storms.
Specifically, we observed significant real-world geo-events near cable regions, including a Red notification for Tropical Cyclone SIMON-26 and several advisories for Tropical Storm Isaias. Notably, the Guam Okinawa Kyushu Incheon (GOKI) cable experienced a warning alert with increased latency (+111%). Other cables showed minor improvements in performance, such as the Nigeria Cameroon Submarine Cable System (NCSCS), which saw a 86% reduction in latency compared to its seven-day average. These changes are indicative of normal network behavior and do not suggest any major issues.
All cable incidents, each with its own report →
The forest fire in Indonesia caused anomalies on submarine cables, including APCN-2 and Asia Direct Cable. Analysis of data and possible consequences.
The 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Vanuatu did not affect the submarine cables Tamtam and ICN1. The infrastructure is operating normally.
Tropical cyclone SIMON-26 affected the coastal region of Mexico. The submarine cable Lazaro Cardenas-Manzanillo Santiago Submarine Cable System continues to operate without disruptions.
A forest fire in Indonesia caused anomalies on the submarine cables Echo and INDIGO-West. Investigating impact on internet traffic.
Monthly report from GeoCables own measurements: 35 cable anomalies detected (9 critical), 1 136 208 latency measurements across 22940 routes. Verdicts, timelines, slowest and fastest observed paths.
Exploring how routing and peering specifics can extend the journey of internet traffic.
The 6.6 magnitude earthquake off the coast of New Caledonia did not affect the operation of submarine cables in the region. The infrastructure withstood the shock.
Discover why internet traffic from Russia to Seychelles routes through Asia, causing increased latency.
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| Cable Multiplier | - |
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| Data Source | - |
Dijkstra-based routing through real submarine cables and landing points from the industry cable inventory. Accurate distance multipliers for land and undersea segments.
Interactive map showing every cable your data touches - backbone nodes, landing stations, and submarine segments with real geographic coordinates.
Launch real network measurements from probes worldwide. Compare theoretical estimates with actual RTT and hop-by-hop packet journeys with ISP geolocation.
Speed-of-light physics combined with cable distance to estimate latency. See the real-world overhead - how much slower actual routing is vs fiber limits.
Enter cities, IP addresses, or domain names - everything is resolved to coordinates with hosting location identification and optimal cable route.
Traceroute hops enriched with city, country, ISP. Phases auto-detected: local → ISP → CDN → backbone → submarine cable. Visual RTT timelines.
City names, IP addresses, or domains. The system resolves coordinates, identifies countries, and determines whether the route crosses oceans.
A graph algorithm finds the optimal route through landing points and submarine cables with accurate distance multipliers for each segment type.
One click launches our own measurement network for real ping and traceroute. See actual RTT, identify every router, and find where your packet enters submarine cables.
Validate routing assumptions, estimate latency budgets, troubleshoot unexpected paths.
Understand your ping. Compare the physical speed limit vs reality for any server.
Choose optimal PoP locations based on submarine cable topology and landing proximity.
Teach how the physical internet works. Visualize the gap between light speed and real routing.
Over 500 submarine cable systems span the world's oceans, with a combined length of approximately 1.4 million kilometers - enough to circle the Earth 35 times.
Submarine cables carry over 99% of intercontinental data traffic. Despite what many people think, satellites handle only a tiny fraction of global internet traffic.
Light travels through fiber optic cable at about two-thirds the speed of light in vacuum. A signal from London to New York takes approximately 28 milliseconds one way.
Modern submarine cables are designed to last 25 years. Cables are buried in the seabed near shores and laid directly on the ocean floor in deep water, protected by layers of steel and polyethylene.
The deepest submarine cables reach the abyssal plains at nearly 8,000 meters. At these depths, cables rest on the ocean floor under enormous pressure, beyond the reach of anchors and fishing gear.
Major transoceanic cable projects like 2Africa or PEACE cost over $1 billion. Investment comes from tech giants like Google, Meta, and Microsoft, as well as telecom consortiums.
GeoCables is a research publication on the physical infrastructure of the global internet. We publish in-depth analyses of how data actually travels between countries - which submarine cables are used, what the measured latency is, and why it differs from the theoretical minimum.
Our research is grounded in real measurements from our own distributed network of measurement servers. We trace specific routes across 723 submarine cable systems and 1,900+ landing points in the global cable inventory, then publish what we find.
Light through fiber travels at ~200,000 km/s - about two-thirds the speed of light in vacuum. That sets the theoretical floor for round-trip time. In practice, real RTT is 1.5-4× higher due to routing detours, optical amplifiers, protocol processing, peering between networks, and suboptimal path selection. Our research articles document this overhead on specific routes - measuring it, explaining it, and tracing it back to the cables and networks responsible.
We run our own measurement network worldwide and watch in real time how traffic moves through submarine cables: where latency climbs, where links drop, what is happening right now. Open the live map to see network health and where it is noisy.