Reviewed by USGSJapan113y ago
M7.3 earthquake 92 km NNW of Yonakuni, Japan
Tuesday, January 5, 1915, 23:26:48 UTC · 25.283°N, 122.804°E
A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck 92 km NNW of Yonakuni, Japan on Tuesday, January 5, 1915, 23:26:48 UTC, at a depth of 215.0 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M8.1 on April 12, 1910.
- Magnitude
- 7.3
- Major · mB
- Depth
- 215 km
- Intermediate
- 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
1.3 megatons of TNT
That is about 89 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 2,818 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
32 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: intermediate
215 km
Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.
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 17 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 · 169 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.9136 km S of Hualien City, TaiwanNovember 14, 1910 · 298 km S of this epicenter
- 6.813 km ENE of Hualien City, TaiwanNovember 21, 1909 · 178 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.8TaiwanSeptember 1, 1910 · 85 km W of this epicenter
- 6.859 km NE of Hirara, JapanNovember 29, 1910 · 289 km E of this epicenter
- 6.73 km WSW of Banqiao, TaiwanApril 14, 1909 · 141 km W of this epicenter
- 6.768 km SW of Yonakuni, JapanJanuary 7, 1913 · 135 km S of this epicenter
- 6.640 km ESE of Yonakuni, JapanDecember 24, 1912 · 125 km SE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 18 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 57,237 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1782
Tainan
22 May 1782 · 248 km away
40,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1771M7.4
Ryukyu Islands
24 Apr 1771 · 208 km away
13,486 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1906M6.8
Jiayi
16 Mar 1906 · 299 km away
1,258 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1848M6.8
Zhanghua
3 Dec 1848 · 267 km away · intensity IX
1,001 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1867M7.0
Chilung (Keelung)
18 Dec 1867 · 90 km away
580 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1845M6.0
Zhanghua
Feb 1845 · 267 km away · intensity VIII
380 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.