Reviewed by USGSJapan67y ago
M6.2 earthquake 119 km ESE of Yamada, Japan
Wednesday, March 23, 1960, 22:22:40 UTC · 39.235°N, 143.303°E
A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck 119 km ESE of Yamada, Japan on Wednesday, March 23, 1960, 22:22:40 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.4 on March 23, 1960.
- Magnitude
- 6.2
- 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
30 kilotons of TNT
That is about 2 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 63 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
77 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Pacific and Okhotsk plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
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 323 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.41933 Sanriku (Sanriku-oki) Earthquake, JapanMarch 2, 1933 · 111 km E of this epicenter
- 8.0113 km ENE of Miyako, JapanMarch 20, 1960 · 71 km N of this epicenter
- 7.978 km E of Hachinohe, JapanMarch 9, 1931 · 168 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.8105 km E of Iwaki, JapanNovember 5, 1938 · 274 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.7277 km SSE of Kushiro, JapanMay 3, 1919 · 253 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.7116 km E of Namie, JapanNovember 6, 1938 · 224 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.7116 km ESE of Namie, JapanNovember 5, 1938 · 250 km S of this epicenter
- 7.7217 km ESE of Kamaishi, JapanJuly 6, 1905 · 115 km SE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 54 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 33,347 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1896M8.3
Sanriku
15 Jun 1896 · 67 km away
27,122 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1933M8.4
Sanriku
2 Mar 1933 · 111 km away
3,022 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1766M6.9
Hirosaki
8 Mar 1766 · 289 km away
1,700 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1793M8.3
Sanriku,Rikuzen,Rikuchu
17 Feb 1793 · 102 km away
745 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1804M7.3
Kisakata
10 Jul 1804 · 290 km away
450 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1896
Senhoku, Ugo
31 Aug 1896 · 215 km away
206 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.