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 716 submarine cable systems, based on real measurements from our probes worldwide.
On September 13, 2026, a magnitude 4.7 earthquake occurred 25 km north of Mutsu, Japan. The event impacted a region with a population of approximately 50,000 and lasted several seconds. Local authorities responded promptly, ensuring safety measures were in place for affected areas. While the earthquake was moderate in scale, its proximity to critical infrastructure warranted close observation.
The submarine cable systems in the region demonstrated strong resilience during the event. The Hokkaido-Sakhalin Cable System (HSCS), which connects Ishikari, Japan, to Sakhalin, Russia, continued to operate within its expected performance range, maintaining an average latency of approximately 50 milliseconds during recent checks. This corridor, located 184 km from the earthquake's epicenter, successfully carried traffic without interruption. Across the broader network, 2636 latency checks conducted over the last 24 hours confirmed the stability of monitored systems.
Real-time monitoring remains active across all submarine cable systems in the region. These corridors are under continuous observation to ensure consistent performance and reliability, providing critical connectivity for global communications. GeoCables remains committed to delivering accurate and timely assessments of submarine cable network stability.
September 13, 2026 was a quiet day for GeoCables' submarine cable network monitoring. Across 660 cables, we conducted 2742 latency/route checks with no anomalies detected, and only two active alerts. This peaceful state of affairs is a positive sign for the overall health of our monitored network.
Notable movements in RTT (Round Trip Time) were observed on several cables: Pishgaman Oman Iran (POI) Network experienced a significant increase (+404% RTT), while Asia Connect Cable-1 (ACC-1) also showed an increase (+169% RTT). Additionally, the Tata TGN-Intra Asia (TGN-IA) cable saw a reduction in latency by 69%, and JAKABARE experienced a notable increase of 47%. These fluctuations are within normal operational ranges and do not indicate any significant issues.
The 6.5-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Indonesia did not affect the operation of key submarine cables, including RISING 8, JAKABARE, and Echo.
Monthly report from GeoCables own measurements: 18 cable anomalies detected (4 critical), 441 716 latency measurements across 556 routes. Verdicts, timelines, slowest and fastest observed paths.
Earthquake of magnitude 5.1 off Guam caused anomalies on submarine cables, including PPC-1. Data analysis and further monitoring.
Discover why internet traffic from Kazakhstan to Samoa routed through the US and other countries.
Analysis of the impact of the September 8, 2026 earthquake in Greece on submarine cables, including Jonah, Adria-1, and others. Anomalies were detected on the Jonah cable.
The forest fire in Indonesia caused anomalies in the operation of the Echo and INDIGO-West submarine cables. Analysis of data and possible consequences.
Learn how infrastructure and economics affect internet traffic routes between Kazakhstan and Indonesia.
A forest fire in Indonesia caused anomalies on the submarine cables INDIGO-West, MViSTA, and Echo. Analysis of delays and possible consequences for internet traffic.
| Point A | - |
|---|---|
| Point B | - |
| Coordinates A | - |
| Coordinates B | - |
| Cable Multiplier | - |
| Crosses Ocean | - |
| Route Details | - |
| 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 RIPE Atlas probes 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 716 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.