Reviewed by USGSJapan31y ago
M3.9 earthquake in Ryukyu Islands, Japan
Tuesday, January 9, 1996, 01:45:09 UTC · 28.108°N, 129.578°E
A magnitude 3.9 earthquake struck in Ryukyu Islands, Japan on Tuesday, January 9, 1996, 01:45:09 UTC, at a depth of 45.5 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 3.9
- Minor · mb
- Depth
- 46 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 earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
11 tons of TNT
That is about 1/1,410 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 45 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
101 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Okinawa and Philippine Sea plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
46 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 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 415 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 · 138 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.678 km S of Naze, JapanJune 16, 1938 · 51 km S of this epicenter
- 7.4152 km ESE of Koshima, JapanFebruary 1, 1916 · 273 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.2Ryukyu Islands, JapanJune 24, 1901 · 43 km E of this epicenter
- 7.2101 km NE of Naze, JapanNovember 5, 1923 · 116 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.183 km SE of Naze, JapanOctober 18, 1995 · 62 km E of this epicenter
- 7.0126 km ESE of Koshima, JapanJuly 18, 1961 · 270 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.0122 km SSE of Koshima, JapanMarch 21, 1942 · 170 km NE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 11 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 · 43 km away
12 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1901M7.9
Ryukyu Islands
24 Jun 1901 · 130 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1995M7.1
Ryuku Is.
18 Oct 1995 · 62 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1768M6.5
Ryukyu Islands
22 Jul 1768 · 295 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1916M8.0
Duda
1 Feb 1916 · 243 km away
- 1904M7.9
Kyushu
24 Aug 1904 · 214 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.