Reviewed by USGSJapan31y ago
M4.0 earthquake 157 km SSE of Naze, Japan
Sunday, January 7, 1996, 00:33:31 UTC · 27.046°N, 130.073°E
A magnitude 4.0 earthquake struck 157 km SSE of Naze, Japan on Sunday, January 7, 1996, 00:33:31 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.0
- 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
15 tons of TNT
That is about 1/998 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 32 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
1 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
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 4 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.3 on January 8, 1996. 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 350 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.9108 km NW of Naze, JapanJune 15, 1911 · 264 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.678 km S of Naze, JapanJune 16, 1938 · 90 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.2Ryukyu Islands, JapanJune 24, 1901 · 106 km N of this epicenter
- 7.2101 km NE of Naze, JapanNovember 5, 1923 · 210 km N of this epicenter
- 7.183 km SE of Naze, JapanOctober 18, 1995 · 99 km N of this epicenter
- 7.0122 km SSE of Koshima, JapanMarch 21, 1942 · 247 km N of this epicenter
- 7.012 km SE of Ginowan, JapanFebruary 23, 1911 · 241 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.093 km NNE of Naze, JapanNovember 3, 1923 · 229 km N of this epicenter
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 · 106 km away
12 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1901M7.9
Ryukyu Islands
24 Jun 1901 · 9 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1995M7.1
Ryuku Is.
18 Oct 1995 · 99 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1768M6.5
Ryukyu Islands
22 Jul 1768 · 273 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1995M6.8
Ryuku Is.
19 Oct 1995 · 117 km away
tsunami
- 1853
Okinawa
3 Oct 1853 · 263 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.