Reviewed by USGSJapan115y ago
M6.7 earthquake 105 km ENE of Miyako, Japan
Sunday, December 8, 1912, 23:49:11 UTC · 40.129°N, 143.010°E
A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck 105 km ENE of Miyako, Japan on Sunday, December 8, 1912, 23:49:11 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.7 on July 6, 1905.
- Magnitude
- 6.7
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 15 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
169 kilotons of TNT
That is about 11 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 355 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
108 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Pacific and Okhotsk plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
15 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 9 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.7217 km ESE of Kamaishi, JapanJuly 6, 1905 · 213 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.5Near the east coast of Honshu, JapanAugust 9, 1901 · 80 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.2Near the east coast of Honshu, JapanAugust 9, 1901 · 60 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.0Northern Honshu, JapanMay 11, 1900 · 228 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.0Near the east coast of Honshu, JapanJune 15, 1901 · 126 km S of this epicenter
- 7.0Off the east coast of Honshu, JapanMay 2, 1902 · 152 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.6227 km ESE of Ishinomaki, JapanMarch 22, 1909 · 294 km S of this epicenter
- 6.624 km S of Shizunai-furukawachō, JapanSeptember 16, 1909 · 227 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 29 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 30,338 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1896M8.3
Sanriku
15 Jun 1896 · 110 km away
27,122 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1766M6.9
Hirosaki
8 Mar 1766 · 213 km away
1,700 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1793M8.3
Sanriku,Rikuzen,Rikuchu
17 Feb 1793 · 200 km away
745 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1804M7.3
Kisakata
10 Jul 1804 · 288 km away
450 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1896
Senhoku, Ugo
31 Aug 1896 · 172 km away
206 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1810M6.6
Oga
25 Sep 1810 · 266 km away
59 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.