M7.6 earthquake 52 km NE of Otofuke, Japan

Friday, January 15, 1993, 11:06:05 UTC · 43.300°N, 143.691°E

A magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck 52 km NE of Otofuke, Japan on Friday, January 15, 1993, 11:06:05 UTC, at a depth of 102.2 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.7 on June 17, 1973.

Magnitude: 7.6; Major · mw
Depth: 102 km; Intermediate
Felt reports: 0; Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking: VIII; Severe (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert: None; Not issued
Tsunami: No flag; USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 200 km aftershock search areaColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

3.8 megatons of TNT

That is about 252 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 7,943 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

234 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Okhotsk and Pacific plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.

Depth: intermediate

102 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 lists 9 M2.5+ earthquakes within 200 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.9 on February 4, 1993. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 698 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 40 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 271 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1982M6.7
Hokkaido, Urakawa, Hiroo
21 Mar 1982 · 167 km away · intensity X
110 deaths$1 million damagetsunami
1968M8.2
Off East Coast Of Honshu Island
16 May 1968 · 281 km away · intensity VI
52 deaths$131 million damagetsunami
1843M8.4
Hokkaido: Yezo, Kushiro, Nemuro
25 Apr 1843 · 238 km away
45 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1952M8.1
Hokkaido
4 Mar 1952 · 129 km away · intensity IX
33 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1973M7.7
Hokkaido Island
17 Jun 1973 · 171 km away · intensity VIII
27 deaths$5 million damagetsunami
1993M7.6
Hokkadio, Kushiro, Hachinohe, Honshu
15 Jan 1993 · 0 km away · intensity VI
2 deaths$358 million damage

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

Nearby trackers