Largest earthquakes in or near Japan on record since 1900 - list, stats and map

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Updated: Apr 16, 2024 15:08 GMT - refresh

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Since 1900, Japan has had 100 quakes of magnitudes up to 8.4:

10 quakes above magnitude 8
90 quakes between magnitude 7 and 8

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Number of quakes per year

Latest: Mag. 7.3 Earthquake Bonin Islands, Japan region -

Strongest: Mag. 8.4 Earthquake 1933 Sanriku (Sanriku-oki) Earthquake, Japan -

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Showing quakes since 1900magnitude 7.8 or higher, within up to 100 km (62 mi) distance (100 quakes):

Largest earthquakes in or near Japan on record since 1900 - list, stats and map
Date and Time	Mag Depth	Nearest Volcano	Location	Details
Oct 8, 1968 04:20 am (GMT +9)	7.3 500 km	98 km (61 mi) to the S	Bonin Islands, Japan region	Info
Thursday, May 16, 1968 GMT (2 quakes)
May 16, 1968 07:39 pm (GMT +9)	7.9 25 km	55 km (34 mi) to the N	Hokkaido, Japan region	Info
May 16, 1968 09:49 am (GMT +9)	8.2 30 km	119 km (74 mi) to the NE	168 km ENE of Hachinohe, Japan	Info
Monday, April 1, 1968 GMT (1 quake)
Apr 1, 1968 09:42 am (GMT +9)	7.5 34 km	47 km (29 mi) to the SW	Philippine Sea, Kochi, 58 km east of Nobeoka, Miyazaki, Japan	Info
Monday, January 29, 1968 GMT (1 quake)
Jan 29, 1968 09:19 pm (Magadan)	7.4 37 km	77 km (48 mi) to the NE	Kuril Islands (Russia)	Info
Saturday, March 12, 1966 GMT (1 quake)
Mar 13, 1966 01:31 am (GMT +9)	7.5 30 km	51 km (32 mi) to the SW	Taiwan region (Japan)	Info
Tuesday, June 23, 1964 GMT (1 quake)
Jun 23, 1964 10:26 am (GMT +9)	7.1 71 km	32 km (20 mi) to the NE	Kuril Islands (Russia)	Info
Tuesday, June 16, 1964 GMT (1 quake)
Jun 16, 1964 01:01 pm (GMT +9)	7.6 15 km	15 km (9.3 mi) to the N	Japan Sea, 62 km northeast of Niigata, Niigata, Japan	Info
Wednesday, February 13, 1963 GMT (2 quakes)
Feb 13, 1963 04:50 pm (GMT +8)	7.2 30 km	85 km (53 mi) to the SW	Taiwan region	Info
Feb 13, 1963 04:50 pm (GMT +8)	7.2 30 km	85 km (53 mi) to the SW	51 km SE of Yilan, Taiwan	Info
Monday, April 23, 1962 GMT (1 quake)
Apr 23, 1962 02:58 pm (GMT +9)	7.1 60 km	17 km (10.6 mi) to the NE	Hokkaido, Japan region	Info

About these data

Estimated combined seismic energy released: 2.3 x 10¹⁸ joules (6.3 x 10⁵ gigawatt hours, equivalent to 5.4 x 10⁸ tons of TNT or 33818.5 atomic bombs!) | about seismic energy

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