Reviewed by USGSJapan114y ago
M6.4 earthquake 120 km E of Yamada, Japan
Sunday, October 12, 1913, 17:03:48 UTC · 39.408°N, 143.344°E
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck 120 km E of Yamada, Japan on Sunday, October 12, 1913, 17:03:48 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.0 on October 11, 1913.
- Magnitude
- 6.4
- Strong · 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
69 kilotons of TNT
That is about 5 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 145 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
74 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
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 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 11 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.7217 km ESE of Kamaishi, JapanJuly 6, 1905 · 129 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.5Near the east coast of Honshu, JapanAugust 9, 1901 · 160 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.2Near the east coast of Honshu, JapanAugust 9, 1901 · 141 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.0Northern Honshu, JapanMay 11, 1900 · 209 km W of this epicenter
- 7.0Near the east coast of Honshu, JapanJune 15, 1901 · 54 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.0Off the east coast of Honshu, JapanMay 2, 1902 · 72 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.0114 km E of Miyako, JapanOctober 11, 1913 · 50 km N of this epicenter
- 6.870 km E of Namie, JapanJanuary 15, 1908 · 244 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 29 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 30,383 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1896M8.3
Sanriku
15 Jun 1896 · 57 km away
27,122 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1766M6.9
Hirosaki
8 Mar 1766 · 279 km away
1,700 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1793M8.3
Sanriku,Rikuzen,Rikuchu
17 Feb 1793 · 116 km away
745 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1804M7.3
Kisakata
10 Jul 1804 · 295 km away
450 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1896
Senhoku, Ugo
31 Aug 1896 · 211 km away
206 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1810M6.6
Oga
25 Sep 1810 · 300 km away
59 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.