Reviewed by USGSJapan75y ago
M5.7 earthquake 145 km SSW of Kushiro, Japan
Sunday, March 16, 1952, 22:09:24 UTC · 41.692°N, 144.020°E
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck 145 km SSW of Kushiro, Japan on Sunday, March 16, 1952, 22:09:24 UTC, at a depth of 31.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.1 on March 14, 1952.
- Magnitude
- 5.7
- Moderate · mw
- Depth
- 31 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
5 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/3 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 11 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
91 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Okhotsk and Pacific plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
31 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 has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 195 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 · 280 km S of this epicenter
- 8.11952 Tokachi-Oki EarthquakeMarch 4, 1952 · 45 km N of this epicenter
- 7.978 km E of Hachinohe, JapanMarch 9, 1931 · 181 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.7277 km SSE of Kushiro, JapanMay 3, 1919 · 177 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.5Near the east coast of Honshu, JapanAugust 9, 1901 · 188 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.542 km SSW of Shikotan, RussiaSeptember 11, 1935 · 287 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.379 km ENE of Miyako, JapanMay 27, 1928 · 226 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.3169 km ENE of Hachinohe, JapanJune 13, 1943 · 93 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 34 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 31,968 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1896M8.3
Sanriku
15 Jun 1896 · 244 km away
27,122 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1933M8.4
Sanriku
2 Mar 1933 · 280 km away
3,022 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1766M6.9
Hirosaki
8 Mar 1766 · 291 km away
1,700 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1843M8.4
Hokkaido: Yezo, Kushiro, Nemuro
25 Apr 1843 · 168 km away
45 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1952M8.1
Hokkaido
4 Mar 1952 · 53 km away · intensity IX
33 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1856M8.0
Oshima
23 Aug 1856 · 140 km away · intensity V
26 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.