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Light mag. 4.5 earthquake - Japan Sea, 33 km southwest of Akita, Japan, on Monday, May 24, 2021 at 1:27 am (GMT +9)

Light magnitude 4.5 earthquake at 175 km depth

23 May 16:35 UTC: First to report: NIED after 8 minutes.

Update Sun, 23 May 2021, 16:39

Moderate magnitude 4.5 quake hits 33 km southwest of Akita, Japan early morning

4.5 quake 24 May 1:27 am (GMT +9)

A magnitude 4.5 earthquake near Akita, Akita Shi, Japan, was reported only 11 minutes ago by Japan's National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED), considered the main national agency that monitors seismic activity in this part of the world. The earthquake occurred at an intermediate to considerable depth of 174.5 km beneath the epicenter early morning on Monday 24 May 2021 at 1:27 am local time. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
Towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Akita (pop. 320,100) located 33 km from the epicenter, Tennō (pop. 22,700) 45 km away, Yuza (pop. 17,100) 56 km away, Ōmagari (pop. 38,800) 56 km away, Yokote (pop. 39,200) 65 km away, Sakata (pop. 100,400) 66 km away, Yuzawa (pop. 33,500) 69 km away, and Tsuruoka (pop. 99,800) 88 km away.
VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you're in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.

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Earthquake details

Date & time	May 23, 2021 16:27:34 UTC
Local time at epicenter	Monday, May 24, 2021 at 1:27 am (GMT +9)
Status	Confirmed
Magnitude	4.5
Depth	174.5 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude	39.513°N / 139.834°E (Japan Sea, Japan)
Antipode	39.513°S / 40.166°W
Shaking intensity	Very weak shaking
Felt	1 report
Primary data source	NIED (National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience)
Nearest volcano	Megata (49 km / 30 mi)
Nearby towns and cities	33 km (21 mi) SW of Akita (pop: 320,100) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 45 km (28 mi) SSW of Tennō (Katagami) (pop: 22,700) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 56 km (35 mi) N of Yuza (pop: 17,100) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 56 km (35 mi) W of Ōmagari (pop: 38,800) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 65 km (41 mi) WNW of Yokote (pop: 39,200) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 66 km (41 mi) N of Sakata (pop: 100,400) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 69 km (43 mi) NW of Yuzawa (pop: 33,500) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 88 km (55 mi) N of Tsuruoka (pop: 99,800) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 165 km (102 mi) NNW of Sendai (pop: 1,063,100) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 425 km (264 mi) N of Tokyo (pop: 8,336,600) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 208 km (129 mi) NE of Sado Island (pop: 55,200) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby
Weather at epicenter at time of quake	Overcast Clouds 14.3°C (58 F), humidity: 92%, wind: 6 m/s (12 kts) from W
Estimated seismic energy released	3.5 x 10¹¹ joules (98.6 megawatt hours, equivalent to 84.8 tons of TNT) \| about seismic energy

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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
4.5	175 km	Japan: W OFF AKITA PREF	NIED
4.4	179 km	34 Km WSW of Akita, Japan	USGS
4.4	178 km	NEAR WEST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN	EMSC
4.4	170 km	Near West Coast of Honshu, Japan	GFZ

Most recent quakes Top 20 past 24 hrs Quakes in Japan

Seismograms

Seismic station: Aomori Tenma (JTM/JP network) | Distance from quake: 176 km / 110 mi | Show on map | Station Info

Seismic station Aomori Tenma: vertical movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismogram (vertical component) around time of quake. Thin dotted red line indicates time of quake. Seismic waves arrive some time later, depending on distance. Bandpass filter applied: 0.2-10.0 Hz. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

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Seismic station Aomori Tenma: horizontal (E-W) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismic station Aomori Tenma: horizontal (N-S) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismograms around time of quake, showing horizontal E-W and N-S ground movements. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Seismic station: Kamikawa Asahi (JKA/JP network) | Distance from quake: 294 km / 183 mi | Show on map | Station Info

Seismic station Kamikawa Asahi: vertical movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismic station Kamikawa Asahi: horizontal (E-W) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismic station Kamikawa Asahi: horizontal (N-S) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismograms around time of quake.
Top: vertical movement, bottom: horizontal (E-W and N-S) movements. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Seismic station: Gifu Kurokawa (JGF/JP network) | Distance from quake: 486 km / 302 mi | Show on map | Station Info

Seismic station Gifu Kurokawa: vertical movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismic station Gifu Kurokawa: horizontal (E-W) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismic station Gifu Kurokawa: horizontal (N-S) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismograms around time of quake.
Top: vertical movement, bottom: horizontal (E-W and N-S) movements. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Seismic station: Hachijojima Island (JHJ2/JP network) | Distance from quake: 711 km / 442 mi | Show on map | Station Info

Seismic station Hachijojima Island: vertical movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismogram (vertical component) around time of quake. Thin dotted red line indicates time of quake. Seismic waves arrive some time later, depending on distance. Bandpass filter applied: 0.2-5.0 Hz. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Seismic station Hachijojima Island: horizontal (E-W) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismic station Hachijojima Island: horizontal (N-S) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismograms around time of quake.
Top: vertical movement, bottom: horizontal (E-W and N-S) movements. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Seismic station: Inchon, Republic of Korea (INCN/IU network) | Distance from quake: 1171 km / 727 mi | Show on map | Station Info

Seismic station Inchon, Republic of Korea: vertical movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismogram (vertical component) around time of quake. Thin dotted red line indicates time of quake. Seismic waves arrive some time later, depending on distance. Bandpass filter applied: 0.2-5.0 Hz. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Seismic station Inchon, Republic of Korea: horizontal (E-W) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismic station Inchon, Republic of Korea: horizontal (N-S) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismograms around time of quake.
Top: vertical movement, bottom: horizontal (E-W and N-S) movements. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

User reports for this quake (1)

User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.

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Miura / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

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