Reviewed by USGSJapan104y ago
M5.9 earthquake 7 km W of Miura, Japan
Sunday, September 2, 1923, 14:16:26 UTC · 35.150°N, 139.535°E
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck 7 km W of Miura, Japan on Sunday, September 2, 1923, 14:16:26 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.1 on September 2, 1923.
- Magnitude
- 5.9
- Moderate · 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
10 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/2 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 21 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
30 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Okhotsk and Philippine Sea 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 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 34 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.05 km SSE of Ōiso, JapanSeptember 1, 1923 · 22 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.85 km E of Tateyama, JapanSeptember 2, 1923 · 40 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.450 km SSW of Ōyama, JapanJanuary 21, 1906 · 176 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.3190 km SE of Hasaki, JapanSeptember 7, 1906 · 278 km E of this epicenter
- 7.264 km ENE of Hasaki, JapanJune 1, 1923 · 198 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.238 km SSW of Shimoda, JapanOctober 24, 1905 · 110 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.1150 km ESE of Hasaki, JapanMarch 13, 1909 · 259 km E of this epicenter
- 7.082 km ENE of Hasaki, JapanMarch 12, 1909 · 214 km NE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 31 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 143,594 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1923M7.9
Tokyo, Yokohama
1 Sep 1923 · 6 km away
105,385 deaths$600 million damagetsunami
- 1847M7.4
Zenkoji, Nagano
8 May 1847 · 248 km away
12,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1891M8.4
Mino-Owari
27 Oct 1891 · 233 km away
7,273 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1855M7.0
Tokyo
11 Nov 1855 · 61 km away
6,757 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1703M8.2
Off Sw Boso Peninsula
30 Dec 1703 · 45 km away
5,233 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1751M6.6
Honshu: Nw
20 May 1751 · 262 km away
2,100 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.