Reviewed by USGSJapan116y ago
M6.9 earthquake 49 km E of Nemuro, Japan
Friday, October 13, 1911, 02:33:12 UTC · 43.391°N, 146.181°E
A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck 49 km E of Nemuro, Japan on Friday, October 13, 1911, 02:33:12 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.3 on April 5, 1901.
- Magnitude
- 6.9
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 35 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- —
- No ShakeMap
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
349 kilotons of TNT
That is about 23 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 733 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
117 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Okhotsk and Pacific plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
35 km
Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.
Did You Feel It?
Where it was felt
No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.
I felt it — report to USGS ↗USGS PAGER estimate
Who was exposed to shaking
USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.
After the main event
Aftershocks within 100 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 5 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.3Kuril IslandsApril 5, 1901 · 257 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.1Off the coast of Hokkaido, JapanDecember 25, 1900 · 46 km S of this epicenter
- 7.0Kuril IslandsNovember 24, 1900 · 147 km E of this epicenter
- 6.755 km SW of Shikotan, RussiaDecember 23, 1907 · 8 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.67 km SW of Kitami, JapanJuly 5, 1907 · 195 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 11 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 46 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1843M8.4
Hokkaido: Yezo, Kushiro, Nemuro
25 Apr 1843 · 155 km away
45 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1894M7.9
Off Coast Of Honshu
22 Mar 1894 · 100 km away · intensity IX
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1904M7.6
Hokkaido
18 Mar 1904 · 104 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1839M7.3
Se. Hokkaido Island, Japan
1 May 1839 · 138 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1900M7.9
Kuril Islands
25 Dec 1900 · 46 km away · intensity IX
- 1896M7.6
Kuril Islands
18 Nov 1896 · 19 km away · intensity IX
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.