Reviewed by USGSJapan112y ago
M7.4 earthquake 152 km ESE of Koshima, Japan
Tuesday, February 1, 1916, 07:36:31 UTC · 29.510°N, 131.875°E
A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck 152 km ESE of Koshima, Japan on Tuesday, February 1, 1916, 07:36:31 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.
- Magnitude
- 7.4
- Major · 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
2.0 megatons of TNT
That is about 131 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 4,121 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
2 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Okinawa 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 200 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 200 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 8 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.229 km ESE of Takanabe, JapanApril 13, 1913 · 281 km N of this epicenter
- 7.2Ryukyu Islands, JapanJune 24, 1901 · 248 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.161 km ESE of Nishinoomote, JapanAugust 24, 1904 · 111 km N of this epicenter
- 6.88 km NNE of Kajiki, JapanJanuary 12, 1914 · 280 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.786 km SE of Koshima, JapanNovember 28, 1914 · 80 km W of this epicenter
- 6.7120 km E of Nishinoomote, JapanJanuary 5, 1913 · 142 km N of this epicenter
- 6.546 km SE of Koshima, JapanMarch 10, 1909 · 107 km NW of this epicenter
- 5.868 km N of Naze, JapanSeptember 10, 1909 · 247 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 7 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 75 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1914M7.1
Sakurijima
12 Jan 1914 · 257 km away
63 deaths$19 million damagetsunami
- 1911M8.0
Ryukyu Islands
15 Jun 1911 · 248 km away
12 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1899M7.1
Seikaido
24 Nov 1899 · 266 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1916M8.0
Duda
1 Feb 1916 · 36 km away
- 1904M7.9
Kyushu
24 Aug 1904 · 189 km away
- 1909M7.9
Kyushu
10 Nov 1909 · 289 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.