Major magnitude 8.0 earthquake - 113 km east of Miyako, Iwate, Japan, on Sunday, Mar 20, 1960 at 5:07 pm (GMT +0)
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Major magnitude 8.0 earthquake at 15 km depth
Local time at epicenter: Sunday, Mar 20, 1960 at 5:07 pm (GMT +0)
Magnitude: 8
Depth: 15.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 39.869°N / 143.228°E
(North Pacific Ocean, Japan)Antipode: 39.869°S / 36.772°W
Nearest volcano: Nanashigure (182 km / 113 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
113 km (70 mi) ENE of Miyako (pop: 51,700) --> See nearby quakes!
118 km (73 mi) ENE of Yamada (Shimohei-gun) (pop: 20,100) --> See nearby quakes!
134 km (83 mi) ENE of Kamaishi (pop: 43,100) --> See nearby quakes!
163 km (101 mi) ESE of Hachinohe (pop: 239,000) --> See nearby quakes!
179 km (111 mi) E of Morioka (pop: 295,200) --> See nearby quakes!
189 km (117 mi) ENE of Hanamaki (pop: 73,100) --> See nearby quakes!
192 km (120 mi) ENE of Kitakami (pop: 93,900) --> See nearby quakes!
198 km (123 mi) ENE of Mizusawa (pop: 61,300) --> See nearby quakes!
389 km (241 mi) SSE of Sapporo (pop: 1,883,000) --> See nearby quakes!
559 km (347 mi) NNE of Tokyo (pop: 8,336,600) --> See nearby quakes!
Primary data source: USGS (United States Geological Survey)
Estimated released energy: 6.3 x 1016 joules (17527 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 1.5 x 107 tons of TNT or 942.5 atomic bombs!) | about seismic energy
Data for the same earthquake reported by different agencies
Info: The more agencies report about the same quake and post similar data, the more confidence you can have in the data. It takes normally up to a few hours until earthquake parameters are calculated with near-optimum precision.
| Mag. | Depth | Location | Source |
| 8.0 | 15 km | off the east coast of Honshu, Japan | USGS |
User reports for this quake
User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
Aftershocks
[More info]
Recorded aftershocks, latest first (52 quakes)
Date and time | Mag Depth | Location | Details |
| Mar 21, 1963 04:00 59 years ago | 5.5 45 km | 55 km SE of Hitachi, Ibaraki, Japan | More |
| Mar 1, 1963 10:45 59 years ago | 5.9 30 km | 150 km NE of Hachinohe, Aomori, Japan | More |
| Dec 27, 1962 18:18 59 years ago | 5.7 50 km | 21 km NE of Miyako, Iwate, Japan | More |
| Nov 14, 1962 07:48 60 years ago | 5.8 30 km | 37 km E of Hasaki, Chōshi-shi, Chiba, Japan | More |
| Nov 10, 1962 01:33 60 years ago | 5.8 53 km | 50 km E of Shikotan, Sakhalin Oblast, Russia | More |
| Sep 24, 1962 14:38 60 years ago | 6.0 30 km | 74 km S of Nemuro, Hokkaido, Japan | More |
| Aug 27, 1962 16:20 60 years ago | 5.7 30 km | 389 km NE of Tokyo, Japan | More |
| Jul 28, 1962 19:42 60 years ago | 5.6 25 km | 241 km NE of Tokyo, Japan | More |
| Jul 17, 1962 17:20 60 years ago | 6.0 50 km | 53 km E of Kushiro, Hokkaido, Japan | More |
| Apr 30, 1962 02:26 60 years ago | 6.1 15 km | Tome Shi, Honshu-miyagi-ken, 21 km S of Ichinoseki, Iwate, Japan | More |
| Apr 25, 1962 15:47 60 years ago | 6.3 35 km | 401 km NE of Tokyo, Japan | More |
| Apr 23, 1962 05:58 60 years ago | 7.1 60 km | 63 km SE of Obihiro, Hokkaido, Japan | More |
| Apr 17, 1962 20:54 60 years ago | 5.6 30 km | 377 km NE of Tokyo, Japan | More |
| Apr 12, 1962 05:16 60 years ago | 5.8 25 km | 360 km NE of Tokyo, Japan | More |
| Apr 12, 1962 00:52 60 years ago | 7.3 28 km | 378 km NE of Tokyo, Japan | More |
| Feb 20, 1962 16:05 60 years ago | 6.1 51 km | 49 km E of Kushiro, Hokkaido, Japan | More |
| Jan 9, 1962 12:40 60 years ago | 6.0 49 km | 68 km E of Kushiro, Hokkaido, Japan | More |
| Nov 25, 1961 20:19 61 years ago | 5.8 20 km | 195 km E of Tokyo, Japan | More |
| Nov 15, 1961 07:17 61 years ago | 6.5 43 km | 51 km SW of Nemuro, Hokkaido, Japan | More |
| Aug 21, 1961 17:00 61 years ago | 5.6 20 km | 46 km SW of Oshima Ko Island, Hokkaido, Japan | More |
| Aug 11, 1961 15:51 61 years ago | 7.1 44 km | 60 km E of Kushiro, Hokkaido, Japan | More |
| Jul 17, 1961 16:20 61 years ago | 5.8 20 km | 177 km E of Tokyo, Japan | More |
| Jun 19, 1961 07:38 61 years ago | 6.0 35 km | 127 km E of Miyako, Iwate, Japan | More |
| Jun 19, 1961 02:45 61 years ago | 5.7 25 km | 143 km E of Miyako, Iwate, Japan | More |
| Mar 24, 1961 22:57 61 years ago | 5.9 35 km | 38 km E of Hasaki, Chōshi-shi, Chiba, Japan | More |
| Feb 23, 1961 04:16 61 years ago | 6.2 15 km | 436 km NE of Tokyo, Japan | More |
| Feb 16, 1961 13:54 61 years ago | 5.8 32 km | 86 km E of Shikotan, Sakhalin Oblast, Russia | More |
| Feb 15, 1961 10:45 61 years ago | 6.1 34 km | 74 km E of Shikotan, Sakhalin Oblast, Russia | More |
| Feb 14, 1961 03:22 61 years ago | 6.0 46 km | 180 km E of Yuzhno-Kurilsk, Sakhalin Oblast, Russia | More |
| Feb 13, 1961 22:37 61 years ago | 5.6 35 km | 186 km E of Yuzhno-Kurilsk, Sakhalin Oblast, Russia | More |
| Feb 13, 1961 16:27 61 years ago | 5.9 32 km | 97 km E of Shikotan, Sakhalin Oblast, Russia | More |
| Feb 12, 1961 23:26 61 years ago | 6.3 34 km | 91 km E of Shikotan, Sakhalin Oblast, Russia | More |
| Feb 12, 1961 21:53 61 years ago | 6.9 38 km | 78 km E of Shikotan, Sakhalin Oblast, Russia | More |
| Jan 16, 1961 15:41 61 years ago | 6.7 30 km | 193 km E of Tokyo, Japan | More |
| Jan 16, 1961 14:03 61 years ago | 6.2 30 km | 228 km E of Tokyo, Japan | More |
| Jan 16, 1961 12:12 61 years ago | 7.0 30 km | 200 km E of Tokyo, Japan | More |
| Jan 16, 1961 11:19 61 years ago | 6.3 30 km | 179 km E of Tokyo, Japan | More |
| Jan 16, 1961 07:20 61 years ago | 7.2 30 km | 192 km E of Tokyo, Japan | More |
| Oct 28, 1960 22:29 62 years ago | 6.1 25 km | 177 km SE of Tokyo, Japan | More |
| Aug 13, 1960 07:11 62 years ago | 5.8 53 km | 83 km E of Hachinohe, Aomori, Japan | More |
| Aug 12, 1960 13:12 62 years ago | 5.7 30 km | 186 km NE of Tokyo, Japan | More |
| Jul 29, 1960 17:31 62 years ago | 6.8 53 km | 73 km E of Hachinohe, Aomori, Japan | More |
| Jun 15, 1960 15:36 62 years ago | 5.8 45 km | 90 km NE of Miyako, Iwate, Japan | More |
| Jun 3, 1960 16:18 62 years ago | 5.6 64 km | 81 km E of Mutsu, Aomori, Japan | More |
| Mar 23, 1960 22:22 62 years ago | 6.2 15 km | 126 km E of Miyako, Iwate, Japan | More |
| Mar 23, 1960 11:51 62 years ago | 5.8 25 km | 147 km E of Kamaishi, Iwate, Japan | More |
| Mar 23, 1960 10:28 62 years ago | 5.9 25 km | 150 km E of Kamaishi, Iwate, Japan | More |
| Mar 23, 1960 08:46 62 years ago | 5.9 15 km | 111 km E of Miyako, Iwate, Japan | More |
| Mar 23, 1960 01:07 62 years ago | 6.4 15 km | 119 km E of Miyako, Iwate, Japan | More |
| Mar 23, 1960 00:23 62 years ago | 7.0 15 km | 118 km E of Miyako, Iwate, Japan | More |
| Mar 21, 1960 09:18 62 years ago | 6.0 15 km | 127 km E of Miyako, Iwate, Japan | More |
| Mar 21, 1960 00:34 62 years ago | 6.1 15 km | 111 km E of Miyako, Iwate, Japan | More |
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