Reviewed by USGSJapan53y ago
M4.4 earthquake 63 km E of Nemuro, Japan
Wednesday, July 11, 1973, 05:16:34 UTC · 43.241°N, 146.346°E
A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck 63 km E of Nemuro, Japan on Wednesday, July 11, 1973, 05:16:34 UTC, at a depth of 55.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.4
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 55 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
60 tons of TNT
That is about 1/251 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 8 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
96 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Okhotsk and Pacific plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
55 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 50 km
USGS lists 12 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.0 on August 9, 1973. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
- 4.856 km SW of Shikotan, Russia53y ago · 18 km N of this epicenter
- 6.045 km SSW of Shikotan, Russia53y ago · 24 km N of this epicenter
- 4.153 km ENE of Nemuro, Japan53y ago · 27 km NW of this epicenter
- 5.479 km S of Shikotan, Russia53y ago · 41 km SE of this epicenter
- 4.927 km S of Shikotan, Russia53y ago · 49 km NE of this epicenter
- 4.763 km ESE of Nemuro, Japan53y ago · 8 km S of this epicenter
- 4.457 km ESE of Nemuro, Japan53y ago · 26 km SW of this epicenter
- 4.763 km S of Shikotan, Russia53y ago · 40 km E of this epicenter
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 445 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.31958 Kuril Islands EarthquakeNovember 6, 1958 · 220 km NE of this epicenter
- 8.21969 Hokkaido Toho-oki EarthquakeAugust 11, 1969 · 119 km E of this epicenter
- 8.11952 Tokachi-Oki EarthquakeMarch 4, 1952 · 238 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.7277 km SSE of Kushiro, JapanMay 3, 1919 · 294 km S of this epicenter
- 7.719 km ESE of Nemuro, JapanJune 17, 1973 · 45 km W of this epicenter
- 7.542 km SSW of Shikotan, RussiaSeptember 11, 1935 · 30 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.426 km S of Shikotan, RussiaJanuary 29, 1968 · 46 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.3Kuril IslandsApril 5, 1901 · 255 km NE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 31 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 107 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1843M8.4
Hokkaido: Yezo, Kushiro, Nemuro
25 Apr 1843 · 141 km away
45 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1952M8.1
Hokkaido
4 Mar 1952 · 237 km away · intensity IX
33 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1973M7.7
Hokkaido Island
17 Jun 1973 · 44 km away · intensity VIII
27 deaths$5 million damagetsunami
- 1894M7.9
Off Coast Of Honshu
22 Mar 1894 · 87 km away · intensity IX
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1938M6.1
E. Hokkaido Island, Japan
28 May 1938 · 170 km away
1 deathLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1958M8.3
Kuril Islands
6 Nov 1958 · 227 km away · intensity X
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.