Strong mag. 5.2 earthquake - North Pacific Ocean, 120 km east of Miyako, Iwate, Japan, on Sunday, 17 December 1989 at 08:11 (GMT)
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Strong magnitude 5.2 earthquake at 20 km depth
Date & time: 17 Dec 1989 08:11:05 UTC
Magnitude: 5.2
Depth: 20.3 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 39.552°N / 143.332°E

Nearest volcano: Nanashigure (198 km / 123 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
119 km (74 mi) E of Yamada (Shimohei-gun) (pop: 20,100) --> See nearby quakes!
120 km (74 mi) E of Miyako (pop: 51,700) --> See nearby quakes!
125 km (77 mi) E of Ōtsuchi (Kamihei-gun) (pop: 16,500) --> See nearby quakes!
129 km (80 mi) ENE of Kamaishi (pop: 43,100) --> See nearby quakes!
149 km (93 mi) ENE of Ōfunato (pop: 35,400) --> See nearby quakes!
188 km (117 mi) E of Morioka (pop: 295,200) --> See nearby quakes!
188 km (117 mi) ESE of Hachinohe (pop: 239,000) --> See nearby quakes!
257 km (160 mi) NE of Sendai (pop: 1,063,100) --> See nearby quakes!
425 km (264 mi) SSE of Sapporo (pop: 1,883,000) --> See nearby quakes!
536 km (333 mi) NE of Tokyo (pop: 8,336,600) --> See nearby quakes!
Primary data source: USGS (United States Geological Survey)
Estimated released energy: 4 x 1012 joules (1.11 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 951 tons of TNT) More info
Data for the same earthquake reported by different agencies
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Magnitude | Depth | Location | Source |
M 5.2 | 20 km | off the east coast of Honshu, Japan | USGS |
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Recorded aftershocks, latest first (2 quakes):- 10 Jan 1990 03:11 UTC| M 5.8 |36.6 km (22.7 mi) depth|17 km (11 mi) distance| USGS | Details
- 10 Jan 1990 03:09 UTC| M 5.7 |33.7 km (20.9 mi) depth|11 km (7 mi) distance| USGS | Details
Earlier earthquakes in the same area
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