Reviewed by USGSJapan96y ago
M5.9 earthquake 161 km ENE of Miyako, Japan
Sunday, March 15, 1931, 16:33:31 UTC · 40.367°N, 143.587°E
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck 161 km ENE of Miyako, Japan on Sunday, March 15, 1931, 16:33:31 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.9 on March 9, 1931.
- Magnitude
- 5.9
- 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
12 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 25 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
66 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Pacific and Okhotsk plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
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 94 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.978 km E of Hachinohe, JapanMarch 9, 1931 · 102 km W of this epicenter
- 7.7277 km SSE of Kushiro, JapanMay 3, 1919 · 175 km E of this epicenter
- 7.7217 km ESE of Kamaishi, JapanJuly 6, 1905 · 222 km S of this epicenter
- 7.6119 km SE of Kamaishi, JapanNovember 1, 1915 · 196 km S of this epicenter
- 7.5Near the east coast of Honshu, JapanAugust 9, 1901 · 112 km W of this epicenter
- 7.379 km ENE of Miyako, JapanMay 27, 1928 · 85 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.2Near the east coast of Honshu, JapanAugust 9, 1901 · 93 km W of this epicenter
- 7.1123 km SE of Honchō, JapanJuly 29, 1917 · 94 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 32 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 29,862 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1896M8.3
Sanriku
15 Jun 1896 · 103 km away
27,122 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1766M6.9
Hirosaki
8 Mar 1766 · 251 km away
1,700 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1793M8.3
Sanriku,Rikuzen,Rikuchu
17 Feb 1793 · 211 km away
745 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1896
Senhoku, Ugo
31 Aug 1896 · 224 km away
206 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1843M8.4
Hokkaido: Yezo, Kushiro, Nemuro
25 Apr 1843 · 272 km away
45 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1856M8.0
Oshima
23 Aug 1856 · 17 km away · intensity V
26 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.