QuakeScout
Magnitude4.1

Reviewed by USGSJapan53y ago

M4.1 earthquake 185 km SSE of Katsuura, Japan

Sunday, January 13, 1974, 14:28:28 UTC · 33.591°N, 141.051°E

A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck 185 km SSE of Katsuura, Japan on Sunday, January 13, 1974, 14:28:28 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow).

Magnitude
4.1
Light · mb
Depth
33 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

21 tons of TNT

That is about 1/707 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 22 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

13 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the North American and African plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.

Depth: shallow

33 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 2 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.3 on February 6, 1974. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M3M41h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M4.1
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 4.3196 km SSE of Tateyama, Japan53y ago · 34 km SW of this epicenter
  2. 3.7159 km SSE of Tateyama, Japan53y ago · 42 km W of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 261 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 8.05 km SSE of Ōiso, JapanSeptember 1, 1923 · 244 km NW of this epicenter
  2. 7.9174 km SE of Katsuura, JapanNovember 25, 1953 · 70 km NE of this epicenter
  3. 7.85 km E of Tateyama, JapanSeptember 2, 1923 · 186 km NW of this epicenter
  4. 7.450 km SSW of Ōyama, JapanJanuary 21, 1906 · 287 km W of this epicenter
  5. 7.3206 km SSE of Wada, JapanDecember 4, 1972 · 36 km SW of this epicenter
  6. 7.3190 km SE of Hasaki, JapanSeptember 7, 1906 · 188 km NE of this epicenter
  7. 7.264 km ENE of Hasaki, JapanJune 1, 1923 · 264 km N of this epicenter
  8. 7.238 km SSW of Shimoda, JapanOctober 24, 1905 · 220 km NW of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 30 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 118,784 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1923M7.9

    Tokyo, Yokohama

    1 Sep 1923 · 220 km away

    105,385 deaths$600 million damagetsunami

  2. 1855M7.0

    Tokyo

    11 Nov 1855 · 256 km away

    6,757 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami

  3. 1703M8.2

    Off Sw Boso Peninsula

    30 Dec 1703 · 184 km away

    5,233 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami

  4. 1854M8.3

    Enshunada Sea

    23 Dec 1854 · 295 km away

    1,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami

  5. 1930M7.1

    Honshu: Idu

    25 Nov 1930 · 245 km away

    259 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)

  6. 1853

    Odawara

    11 Mar 1853 · 255 km away

    79 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)

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

Nearby trackers

Closest city pages