Reviewed by USGSJapan84y ago
M6.4 earthquake 129 km ENE of Misawa, Japan
Tuesday, June 15, 1943, 11:10:48 UTC · 41.107°N, 142.820°E
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck 129 km ENE of Misawa, Japan on Tuesday, June 15, 1943, 11:10:48 UTC, at a depth of 40.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.6 on June 13, 1943.
- Magnitude
- 6.4
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 40 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
58 kilotons of TNT
That is about 4 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 122 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
140 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
40 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 184 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 · 259 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.978 km E of Hachinohe, JapanMarch 9, 1931 · 66 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.7277 km SSE of Kushiro, JapanMay 3, 1919 · 241 km E of this epicenter
- 7.6119 km SE of Kamaishi, JapanNovember 1, 1915 · 273 km S of this epicenter
- 7.5Near the east coast of Honshu, JapanAugust 9, 1901 · 71 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.4off the east coast of Honshu, JapanOctober 10, 1939 · 289 km S of this epicenter
- 7.379 km ENE of Miyako, JapanMay 27, 1928 · 137 km S of this epicenter
- 7.3169 km ENE of Hachinohe, JapanJune 13, 1943 · 50 km E of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 37 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 32,268 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1896M8.3
Sanriku
15 Jun 1896 · 205 km away
27,122 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1933M8.4
Sanriku
2 Mar 1933 · 259 km away
3,022 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1766M6.9
Hirosaki
8 Mar 1766 · 179 km away
1,700 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1896
Senhoku, Ugo
31 Aug 1896 · 197 km away
206 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1810M6.6
Oga
25 Sep 1810 · 281 km away
59 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1704
N Of Nosiro
27 May 1704 · 279 km away
58 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.