Smart Cable Routing
Dijkstra-based routing through real submarine cables and landing points from TeleGeography data. 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 6, 2026, a magnitude 4.5 earthquake occurred 98 km east-northeast of Donggang, Taiwan. The event was recorded at a moderate intensity, with its epicenter located offshore. While detailed impact assessments on local infrastructure and population were not provided in the source report, the region is known for its robust preparedness measures against seismic activity.
Several submarine cables have landing points within 350 km of the earthquake's epicenter. These include the Asia United Gateway East (AUG East) and TPU cables, both landing at Dawu, Taiwan (63 km from the event), with recent latency averages of ~316 ms and ~110 ms, respectively. The EAC-C2C and Southeast Asia-Japan Cable 2 (SJC2) systems land at Fangshan, Taiwan (88 km from the epicenter), with average latencies of ~229 ms and ~133 ms. Further north, the Apricot and Asia Pacific Gateway (APG) cables land at Toucheng, Taiwan (246 km from the event), showing average latencies of ~268 ms and ~192 ms. Monitoring has detected one latency anomaly in the affected zone, and active observation continues to ensure network performance and stability.
September 6, 2026 - GeoCables reported a calm day with no flagged anomalies in its submarine cable network monitoring for the past 24 hours. Across 665 monitored cables, 2536 latency/route checks were conducted, reflecting ongoing vigilance over global connectivity. While there were some fluctuations, these were within expected parameters and did not indicate any significant issues.
Notable per-cable signals included warnings on INDIGO-West (+161% RTT), Bosun (+125% RTT), and Asia Connect Cable-1 (+169% RTT). These increases are being monitored but do not suggest immediate damage. Other cables like North-West Cable System, Indonesia Global Gateway (IGG) System, JaKa2LaDeMa, JAKABARE, Apricot, and MViSTA showed normal jitter, with some minor fluctuations observed that are typical of routine network variability.
A forest fire in Indonesia caused anomalies on submarine cables, including INDIGO-West. Details and monitoring data.
Exploring how internet traffic from Australia to Malaysia routes through Japan and other locations.
A forest fire in Indonesia caused anomalies on the submarine cables BDM, MIST, IAX, and I-2SEA. Analysis of data and possible consequences.
Magnitude 6.3 earthquake near Nikolski, Alaska, tested the resilience of the AU-Aleutian submarine cable. Infrastructure continues to operate normally.
Magnitude 6.2 earthquake near Nikolski, Alaska, on September 3, 2026. The AU-Aleutian cable remained operational.
Discover how infrastructure and cost-saving measures lead data to take unexpected routes.
Exploring the causes and impact of an internet detour that diverted traffic by 2,672 km.
Analysis of the consequences of the M4.7 earthquake near Hasaki, Japan, on submarine cables, including ASE and other systems.
| 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 TeleGeography data. 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 cataloged by TeleGeography, 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.