Reviewed by USGSJapan region123y ago
M6.8 earthquake in Volcano Islands, Japan region
Thursday, May 11, 1905, 17:09:01 UTC · 25.967°N, 143.332°E
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck in Volcano Islands, Japan region on Thursday, May 11, 1905, 17:09:01 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
- 6.8
- 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
223 kilotons of TNT
That is about 15 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 468 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
18 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Philippine Sea and Pacific 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 no earlier M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km.
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 2 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1826
Bonin Islands [Chichijima Island]
Jan 1826 · 166 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1872
Bonin Islands [Chichijima Island]
1872 · 166 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.