Light mag. 4.4 earthquake - North Pacific Ocean, 72 km east of Miyako, Iwate, Japan, on Tuesday, May 17, 2022 at 4:06 pm (GMT +10) -
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Light magnitude 4.4 earthquake at 140 km depth
17 May 06:16 UTC: First to report: NIED after 10 minutes.
Update Tue, 17 May 2022, 06:21
Moderate magnitude 4.4 earthquake 72 km east of Miyako, Japan4.4 quake 17 May 4:06 pm (GMT +10)
A magnitude 4.4 earthquake near Miyako, Miyako-shi, Iwate, Japan, was reported only 15 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 depth of 139.7 km beneath the epicenter in the afternoon on Tuesday, May 17th, 2022, at 4:06 pm 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 Miyako (pop. 51,700) located 72 km from the epicenter, Yamada (pop. 20,100) 77 km away, Ōtsuchi (pop. 16,500) 85 km away, and Kamaishi (pop. 43,100) 93 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.
Towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Miyako (pop. 51,700) located 72 km from the epicenter, Yamada (pop. 20,100) 77 km away, Ōtsuchi (pop. 16,500) 85 km away, and Kamaishi (pop. 43,100) 93 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.
Earthquake data
Earthquake details
| Date & time | May 17, 2022 06:06:19 UTC - |
| Local time at epicenter | Tuesday, May 17, 2022 at 4:06 pm (GMT +10) |
| Status | Confirmed |
| Magnitude | 4.4 |
| Depth | 139.7 km |
| Epicenter latitude / longitude | 39.722°N / 142.781°E  (North Pacific Ocean, Japan) |
| Antipode | 39.722°S / 37.219°W |
| Shaking intensity | Very weak shaking |
| Felt | 0 reports |
| Primary data source | NIED (National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience) |
| Nearest volcano | Iwate (153 km / 95 mi) |
| Nearby towns and cities | 72 km (45 mi) E of Miyako (pop: 51,700) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 77 km (48 mi) ENE of Yamada (Shimohei-gun) (pop: 20,100) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 85 km (53 mi) ENE of Ōtsuchi (Kamihei-gun) (pop: 16,500) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 93 km (58 mi) ENE of Kamaishi (pop: 43,100) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 139 km (86 mi) SE of Hachinohe (pop: 239,000) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 140 km (87 mi) E of Morioka (pop: 295,200) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 151 km (94 mi) ENE of Kitakami (pop: 93,900) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 212 km (132 mi) SE of Aomori (pop: 298,400) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 231 km (144 mi) NE of Sendai (pop: 1,063,100) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 524 km (326 mi) NNE of Tokyo (pop: 8,336,600) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 197 km (123 mi) NE of Tashiro Jima Island (pop: 100) | Show on map | Quakes nearby |
| Weather at epicenter at time of quake | Light Rain  11.6°C (53 F), humidity: 98%, wind: 5 m/s (9 kts) from SSE |
| Estimated seismic energy released | 2.5 x 1011 joules (69.8 megawatt hours, equivalent to 60 tons of TNT) | 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 |
| 4.4 | 140 km | Japan: E OFF IWATE PREF | NIED |
User reports for this quake
User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
Earlier earthquakes in the same area
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