QuakeScout
Magnitude6.2

Reviewed by USGSJapan110y ago

M6.2 earthquake 184 km SE of Itoman, Japan

Wednesday, February 13, 1918, 20:25:15 UTC · 25.070°N, 129.086°E

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck 184 km SE of Itoman, Japan on Wednesday, February 13, 1918, 20:25:15 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.3 on July 4, 1917.

Magnitude
6.2
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

30 kilotons of TNT

That is about 2 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 63 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

74 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 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 4 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 7.3120 km ENE of Hirara, JapanJuly 4, 1917 · 267 km W of this epicenter
  2. 7.012 km SE of Ginowan, JapanFebruary 23, 1911 · 175 km NW of this epicenter
  3. 6.219 km SE of Ginowan, JapanAugust 29, 1909 · 168 km NW of this epicenter
  4. 6.0122 km E of Hirara, JapanAugust 5, 1917 · 261 km W of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 4 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

  1. 1901M7.9

    Ryukyu Islands

    24 Jun 1901 · 233 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  2. 1768M6.5

    Ryukyu Islands

    22 Jul 1768 · 203 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  3. 1853

    Okinawa

    3 Oct 1853 · 195 km away

    tsunami

  4. 1858

    Ryukyu Islands

    Sep 1858 · 203 km away

    tsunami

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers

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