Reviewed by USGSJapan region90y ago
M6.4 earthquake in Volcano Islands, Japan region
Saturday, January 1, 1938, 23:27:59 UTC · 25.648°N, 142.889°E
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck in Volcano Islands, Japan region on Saturday, January 1, 1938, 23:27:59 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.6 on March 11, 1931.
- Magnitude
- 6.4
- 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
60 kilotons of TNT
That is about 4 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 126 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
19 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Philippine Sea and Pacific 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 23 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 6.8Volcano Islands, Japan regionMay 11, 1905 · 57 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.6Volcano Islands, Japan regionMarch 11, 1931 · 268 km S of this epicenter
- 6.6Bonin Islands, Japan regionJuly 12, 1913 · 123 km N of this epicenter
- 6.4Bonin Islands, Japan regionMay 4, 1907 · 270 km N of this epicenter
- 6.4Bonin Islands, Japan regionJune 9, 1910 · 271 km N of this epicenter
- 6.4Bonin Islands, Japan regionAugust 15, 1913 · 136 km N of this epicenter
- 6.3Bonin Islands, Japan regionJune 26, 1907 · 204 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.2Bonin Islands, Japan regionJanuary 4, 1933 · 143 km E of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 2 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1826
Bonin Islands [Chichijima Island]
Jan 1826 · 172 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1872
Bonin Islands [Chichijima Island]
1872 · 172 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.