Reviewed by USGSJapan73y ago
M6.0 earthquake 152 km ESE of Ōhara, Japan
Sunday, November 29, 1953, 04:07:25 UTC · 34.620°N, 141.873°E
A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck 152 km ESE of Ōhara, Japan on Sunday, November 29, 1953, 04:07:25 UTC, at a depth of 20.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.0 on November 27, 1953.
- Magnitude
- 6.0
- Moderate · mw
- Depth
- 20 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 75 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
13 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 27 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
9 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
20 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 75 km
USGS lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.0 on December 5, 1953. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 222 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.05 km SSE of Ōiso, JapanSeptember 1, 1923 · 242 km W of this epicenter
- 7.9174 km SE of Katsuura, JapanNovember 25, 1953 · 72 km S of this epicenter
- 7.85 km E of Tateyama, JapanSeptember 2, 1923 · 182 km W of this epicenter
- 7.8105 km E of Iwaki, JapanNovember 5, 1938 · 262 km N of this epicenter
- 7.769 km ESE of Kitaibaraki, JapanMay 23, 1938 · 216 km N of this epicenter
- 7.7116 km ESE of Namie, JapanNovember 5, 1938 · 283 km N of this epicenter
- 7.6141 km ESE of Namie, JapanNovember 6, 1938 · 271 km N of this epicenter
- 7.3190 km SE of Hasaki, JapanSeptember 7, 1906 · 63 km E 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 117,772 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1923M7.9
Tokyo, Yokohama
1 Sep 1923 · 223 km away
105,385 deaths$600 million damagetsunami
- 1855M7.0
Tokyo
11 Nov 1855 · 221 km away
6,757 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1703M8.2
Off Sw Boso Peninsula
30 Dec 1703 · 176 km away
5,233 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1930M7.1
Honshu: Idu
25 Nov 1930 · 266 km away
259 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1853
Odawara
11 Mar 1853 · 237 km away
79 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1894M7.5
Tokyo
20 Jun 1894 · 216 km away
24 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.