M7.1 earthquake 83 km SE of Naze, Japan

Wednesday, October 18, 1995, 10:37:26 UTC · 27.929°N, 130.175°E

A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck 83 km SE of Naze, Japan on Wednesday, October 18, 1995, 10:37:26 UTC, at a depth of 28.4 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.6 on June 16, 1938.

Magnitude: 7.1; Major · mw
Depth: 28 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 0; Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking: VI; Strong (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

674 kilotons of TNT

That is about 45 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 1,413 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

39 km

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

Depth: shallow

28 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 200 km

USGS lists 101 M2.5+ earthquakes within 200 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.8 on October 19, 1995. 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 373 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 7 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 12 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1911M8.0
Ryukyu Islands
15 Jun 1911 · 19 km away
12 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1901M7.9
Ryukyu Islands
24 Jun 1901 · 105 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
1995M7.1
Ryuku Is.
18 Oct 1995 · 0 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
1916M8.0
Duda
1 Feb 1916 · 217 km away
1904M7.9
Kyushu
24 Aug 1904 · 231 km away
1995M6.8
Ryuku Is.
19 Oct 1995 · 19 km away
tsunami

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

Nearby trackers