Reviewed by USGSJapan34y ago
M4.8 earthquake 21 km E of Chitose, Japan
Wednesday, January 27, 1993, 15:25:04 UTC · 42.823°N, 141.913°E
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck 21 km E of Chitose, Japan on Wednesday, January 27, 1993, 15:25:04 UTC, at a depth of 153.7 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.6 on January 15, 1993.
- Magnitude
- 4.8
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 154 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
239 tons of TNT
That is about 1/63 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 2 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
253 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Okhotsk and Amur plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: intermediate
154 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 50 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 537 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.21968 Tokachi-Oki EarthquakeMay 16, 1968 · 246 km SE of this epicenter
- 8.11952 Tokachi-Oki EarthquakeMarch 4, 1952 · 182 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.978 km E of Hachinohe, JapanMarch 9, 1931 · 252 km S of this epicenter
- 7.970 km S of Honchō, JapanMay 16, 1968 · 167 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.652 km NE of Otofuke, JapanJanuary 15, 1993 · 154 km E of this epicenter
- 7.5Near the east coast of Honshu, JapanAugust 9, 1901 · 249 km S of this epicenter
- 7.5137 km WSW of Rishiri Town, JapanAugust 1, 1940 · 264 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.3169 km ENE of Hachinohe, JapanJune 13, 1943 · 237 km SE of this epicenter
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 2,253 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1766M6.9
Hirosaki
8 Mar 1766 · 236 km away
1,700 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1993M7.7
Hokkaido; Russia: Southeast; South Korea
12 Jul 1993 · 221 km away · intensity VIII
231 deaths$1.2 billion damagetsunami
- 1982M6.7
Hokkaido, Urakawa, Hiroo
21 Mar 1982 · 83 km away · intensity X
110 deaths$1 million damagetsunami
- 1704
N Of Nosiro
27 May 1704 · 285 km away
58 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1968M8.2
Off East Coast Of Honshu Island
16 May 1968 · 249 km away · intensity VI
52 deaths$131 million damagetsunami
- 1952M8.1
Hokkaido
4 Mar 1952 · 176 km away · intensity IX
33 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.