Reviewed by USGSJapan112y ago
M6.4 earthquake 21 km SSW of Hirara, Japan
Saturday, March 25, 1916, 23:52:26 UTC · 24.618°N, 125.244°E
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck 21 km SSW of Hirara, Japan on Saturday, March 25, 1916, 23:52:26 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.2 on February 28, 1915.
- Magnitude
- 6.4
- Strong · 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
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
78 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Yangtze and Okinawa 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 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 9 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.11910 Taiwan EarthquakeApril 12, 1910 · 177 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.392 km NNW of Yonakuni, JapanJanuary 5, 1915 · 257 km W of this epicenter
- 7.298 km SSW of Ishigaki, JapanFebruary 28, 1915 · 197 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.859 km NE of Hirara, JapanNovember 29, 1910 · 80 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.768 km SW of Yonakuni, JapanJanuary 7, 1913 · 288 km W of this epicenter
- 6.640 km ESE of Yonakuni, JapanDecember 24, 1912 · 197 km W of this epicenter
- 6.588 km NW of Hirara, JapanMay 2, 1906 · 100 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.416 km SSW of Yonakuni, JapanMay 29, 1913 · 235 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 6 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 13,546 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1771M7.4
Ryukyu Islands
24 Apr 1771 · 118 km away
13,486 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1910M7.8
Taiwan
12 Apr 1910 · 293 km away
60 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)
- 1768M6.5
Ryukyu Islands
22 Jul 1768 · 287 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1915M7.7
Sw Ryukyu Islands
28 Feb 1915 · 210 km away
- 1853
Okinawa
3 Oct 1853 · 295 km away
tsunami
- 1858
Ryukyu Islands
Sep 1858 · 287 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.