Reviewed by USGSJapan123y ago
M7.1 earthquake 61 km ESE of Nishinoomote, Japan
Wednesday, August 24, 1904, 20:59:54 UTC · 30.468°N, 131.562°E
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck 61 km ESE of Nishinoomote, Japan on Wednesday, August 24, 1904, 20:59:54 UTC, at a depth of 20.0 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.
- Magnitude
- 7.1
- Major · mw
- Depth
- 20 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
674 kilotons of TNT
That is about 45 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 1,413 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
82 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
20 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 7 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 15,050 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1792M6.4
Kyusyu Island
21 May 1792 · 286 km away
15,030 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1889M6.3
Kumamoto
28 Jul 1889 · 272 km away
20 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)
- 1769M7.4
Sw. Kyushu Island, Japan
29 Aug 1769 · 208 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1899M7.1
Seikaido
24 Nov 1899 · 165 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1904M7.9
Kyushu
24 Aug 1904 · 159 km away
- 1828M6.4
Amakusa Islands
26 May 1828 · 285 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.