Reviewed by USGSJapan73y ago
M6.2 earthquake 119 km SSE of Katsuura, Japan
Sunday, December 20, 1953, 21:20:16 UTC · 34.203°N, 140.951°E
A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck 119 km SSE of Katsuura, Japan on Sunday, December 20, 1953, 21:20:16 UTC, at a depth of 25.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.7 on November 26, 1953.
- Magnitude
- 6.2
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 25 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
35 kilotons of TNT
That is about 2 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 72 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
30 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Okhotsk and Philippine Sea plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
25 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 188 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 · 189 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.9174 km SE of Katsuura, JapanNovember 25, 1953 · 66 km E of this epicenter
- 7.85 km E of Tateyama, JapanSeptember 2, 1923 · 128 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.769 km ESE of Kitaibaraki, JapanMay 23, 1938 · 263 km N of this epicenter
- 7.450 km SSW of Ōyama, JapanJanuary 21, 1906 · 269 km W of this epicenter
- 7.3190 km SE of Hasaki, JapanSeptember 7, 1906 · 158 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.264 km ENE of Hasaki, JapanJune 1, 1923 · 199 km N of this epicenter
- 7.238 km SSW of Shimoda, JapanOctober 24, 1905 · 194 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 30 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 120,780 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1923M7.9
Tokyo, Yokohama
1 Sep 1923 · 166 km away
105,385 deaths$600 million damagetsunami
- 1855M7.0
Tokyo
11 Nov 1855 · 192 km away
6,757 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1703M8.2
Off Sw Boso Peninsula
30 Dec 1703 · 124 km away
5,233 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1707M8.4
Enshunada
28 Oct 1707 · 290 km away
2,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1854M8.3
Enshunada Sea
23 Dec 1854 · 282 km away
1,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1930M7.1
Honshu: Idu
25 Nov 1930 · 199 km away
259 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.