QuakeScout
Magnitude3.8

Reviewed by USGSJapan30y ago

M3.8 earthquake 81 km ESE of Naze, Japan

Friday, May 17, 1996, 03:38:07 UTC · 28.098°N, 130.257°E

A magnitude 3.8 earthquake struck 81 km ESE of Naze, Japan on Friday, May 17, 1996, 03:38:07 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow).

Magnitude
3.8
Minor · 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

8 tons of TNT

That is about 1/1,992 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 63 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

36 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 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M3.7 on June 11, 1996. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M3M41h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M3.8
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 3.752 km E of Naze, Japan30y ago · 36 km NW of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 396 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 7.9108 km NW of Naze, JapanJune 15, 1911 · 183 km NW of this epicenter
  2. 7.678 km S of Naze, JapanJune 16, 1938 · 91 km SW of this epicenter
  3. 7.4152 km ESE of Koshima, JapanFebruary 1, 1916 · 222 km NE of this epicenter
  4. 7.2Ryukyu Islands, JapanJune 24, 1901 · 27 km SW of this epicenter
  5. 7.2101 km NE of Naze, JapanNovember 5, 1923 · 92 km N of this epicenter
  6. 7.161 km ESE of Nishinoomote, JapanAugust 24, 1904 · 292 km NE of this epicenter
  7. 7.183 km SE of Naze, JapanOctober 18, 1995 · 20 km SW of this epicenter
  8. 7.0126 km ESE of Koshima, JapanJuly 18, 1961 · 225 km NE of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 8 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 12 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1911M8.0

    Ryukyu Islands

    15 Jun 1911 · 27 km away

    12 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  2. 1901M7.9

    Ryukyu Islands

    24 Jun 1901 · 125 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  3. 1995M7.1

    Ryuku Is.

    18 Oct 1995 · 20 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  4. 1916M8.0

    Duda

    1 Feb 1916 · 197 km away

  5. 1904M7.9

    Kyushu

    24 Aug 1904 · 213 km away

  6. 1995M6.8

    Ryuku Is.

    19 Oct 1995 · 11 km away

    tsunami

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

Nearby trackers

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