Reviewed by USGSJapan34y ago
M4.9 earthquake 16 km W of Kushiro, Japan
Thursday, February 4, 1993, 14:43:12 UTC · 42.964°N, 144.179°E
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck 16 km W of Kushiro, Japan on Thursday, February 4, 1993, 14:43:12 UTC, at a depth of 99.4 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.6 on January 15, 1993.
- Magnitude
- 4.9
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 99 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
338 tons of TNT
That is about 1/45 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 1 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
180 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
99 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 lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.5 on February 5, 1993. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 882 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.21969 Hokkaido Toho-oki EarthquakeAugust 11, 1969 · 298 km E of this epicenter
- 8.21968 Tokachi-Oki EarthquakeMay 16, 1968 · 240 km S of this epicenter
- 8.11952 Tokachi-Oki EarthquakeMarch 4, 1952 · 101 km S of this epicenter
- 7.970 km S of Honchō, JapanMay 16, 1968 · 196 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.7277 km SSE of Kushiro, JapanMay 3, 1919 · 283 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.719 km ESE of Nemuro, JapanJune 17, 1973 · 134 km E of this epicenter
- 7.652 km NE of Otofuke, JapanJanuary 15, 1993 · 54 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.542 km SSW of Shikotan, RussiaSeptember 11, 1935 · 204 km E of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 46 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 297 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1982M6.7
Hokkaido, Urakawa, Hiroo
21 Mar 1982 · 174 km away · intensity X
110 deaths$1 million damagetsunami
- 1968M8.2
Off East Coast Of Honshu Island
16 May 1968 · 254 km away · intensity VI
52 deaths$131 million damagetsunami
- 1843M8.4
Hokkaido: Yezo, Kushiro, Nemuro
25 Apr 1843 · 184 km away
45 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1952M8.1
Hokkaido
4 Mar 1952 · 94 km away · intensity IX
33 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1973M7.7
Hokkaido Island
17 Jun 1973 · 134 km away · intensity VIII
27 deaths$5 million damagetsunami
- 1856M8.0
Oshima
23 Aug 1856 · 280 km away · intensity V
26 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.