Reviewed by USGSJapan122y ago
M7.2 earthquake 38 km SSW of Shimoda, Japan
Tuesday, October 24, 1905, 03:46:24 UTC · 34.339°N, 138.846°E
A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck 38 km SSW of Shimoda, Japan on Tuesday, October 24, 1905, 03:46:24 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
- 7.2
- Major · ms
- 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
951 kilotons of TNT
That is about 63 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 1,995 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
36 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Amur 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 no earlier M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km.
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 19 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 24,257 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1891M8.4
Mino-Owari
27 Oct 1891 · 212 km away
7,273 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1855M7.0
Tokyo
11 Nov 1855 · 170 km away
6,757 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1703M8.2
Off Sw Boso Peninsula
30 Dec 1703 · 129 km away
5,233 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1707M8.4
Enshunada
28 Oct 1707 · 100 km away
2,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1854
Iga, Ise, Yamato
9 Jul 1854 · 270 km away
1,352 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1854M8.3
Enshunada Sea
23 Dec 1854 · 95 km away
1,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.