QuakeScout
Magnitude5.5

Reviewed by USGSJapan89y ago

M5.5 earthquake 7 km NNW of Narita, Japan

Sunday, June 5, 1938, 16:31:36 UTC · 35.849°N, 140.291°E

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck 7 km NNW of Narita, Japan on Sunday, June 5, 1938, 16:31:36 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.5 on June 3, 1938.

Magnitude
5.5
Moderate · mw
Depth
35 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

2 kilotons of TNT

That is about 1/7 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 5 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

130 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Okhotsk and Philippine Sea plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.

Depth: shallow

35 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 135 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 8.05 km SSE of Ōiso, JapanSeptember 1, 1923 · 107 km SW of this epicenter
  2. 7.85 km E of Tateyama, JapanSeptember 2, 1923 · 102 km S of this epicenter
  3. 7.769 km ESE of Kitaibaraki, JapanMay 23, 1938 · 130 km NE of this epicenter
  4. 7.450 km SSW of Ōyama, JapanJanuary 21, 1906 · 278 km SW of this epicenter
  5. 7.3190 km SE of Hasaki, JapanSeptember 7, 1906 · 238 km SE of this epicenter
  6. 7.264 km ENE of Hasaki, JapanJune 1, 1923 · 109 km E of this epicenter
  7. 7.238 km SSW of Shimoda, JapanOctober 24, 1905 · 213 km SW of this epicenter
  8. 7.167 km ENE of Kashima-shi, JapanAugust 14, 1924 · 102 km NE of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 50 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 143,931 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1923M7.9

    Tokyo, Yokohama

    1 Sep 1923 · 110 km away

    105,385 deaths$600 million damagetsunami

  2. 1847M7.4

    Zenkoji, Nagano

    8 May 1847 · 242 km away

    12,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)

  3. 1891M8.4

    Mino-Owari

    27 Oct 1891 · 300 km away

    7,273 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)

  4. 1855M7.0

    Tokyo

    11 Nov 1855 · 50 km away

    6,757 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami

  5. 1703M8.2

    Off Sw Boso Peninsula

    30 Dec 1703 · 98 km away

    5,233 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami

  6. 1751M6.6

    Honshu: Nw

    20 May 1751 · 247 km away

    2,100 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

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