Recent earthquake activity
Earthquakes in Japan — today and the last 30 days
Japan sits where four tectonic plates meet and experiences roughly a fifth of the world’s strongest earthquakes. Offshore megathrust events here can generate destructive tsunamis, as in the 2011 Tohoku disaster.
Updated 2026-09-06 00:47 UTC
Japan earthquake activity at a glance
What the last 30 days look like in Japan
25 earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or above were recorded in the last 7 days, down from 36 the week before. In the last 24 hours: 3.
The largest was M6.0 on August 23, 32 km SSW of Honchō, Japan, 41.0 km deep, and 12 people reported feeling it.
The most widely felt was not the largest: M5.8, 2 km NNW of Toride, Japan, with 153 reports.
Map of recent earthquakes in Japan and the surrounding area
Circle size shows magnitude and color shows depth. Select a marker to highlight its event below.
Every recorded event
171 earthquakes of magnitude 3.0+ recorded in Japan and the surrounding area in the last 30 days. The newest 60 are shown.
Both the USGS global catalog and the EMSC European-Mediterranean catalog are used here, deduplicated — EMSC records the small local events the global catalog does not. 99 of the events below come from EMSC.
M 3.6 16 km SSW of Minabe, Japan
M 3.1 1 km N of Honmachi, Japan
M 4.5 159 km ENE of Noda, Japan
M 3.5 29 km NNE of Akkeshi, Japan
M 3.8 15 km NW of Kesennuma, Japan
M 3.8 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
M 4.0 17 km WNW of Tomioka, Japan
M 3.9 46 km WSW of Noda, Japan
M 3.8 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
M 3.5 17 km N of Tadami, Japan
M 3.2 11 km S of Sashiki, Japan
M 3.0 15 km WSW of Kanita, Japan
M 3.5 26 km NE of Hanawa, Japan
M 3.3 9 km NNE of Nishino, Japan
M 3.2 9 km NW of Kunisaki, Japan
M 3.3 23 km ESE of Hirara, Japan
M 4.3 25 km ESE of Miyazaki, Japan
M 4.6 78 km ENE of Mutsu, Japan
M 4.3 36 km S of Shizunai-furukawachō, Japan
M 3.2 4 km E of Wakasu, Japan
M 3.3 2 km SSE of Asakawa, Japan
M 3.1 11 km S of Sashiki, Japan
M 3.5 24 km E of Isen, Japan
M 3.0 17 km N of Tadami, Japan
M 3.7 13 km N of Kōya, Japan
M 4.5 18 km SW of Urakawa, Japan
M 4.8 58 km ESE of Koshima, Japan
M 4.7 16 km ENE of Hasaki, JapanFelt · 12
M 3.3 5 km NW of Sukayama, Japan
M 3.6 1 km N of Honmachi, Japan
M 4.0 186 km SE of Terney, Russia
M 3.2 8 km SSW of Katashina, Japan
M 3.6 20 km NNW of Makurazaki, Japan
M 3.7 52 km ENE of Matsumae, Japan
M 4.8 110 km E of Miyako, Japan
M 4.4 18 km ENE of Kuji, Japan
M 4.5 114 km N of Hirara, Japan
M 4.6 35 km SSW of Shizunai-furukawachō, Japan
M 4.8 63 km NE of Kuji, Japan
M 4.0 29 km WNW of Iwaki, Japan
M 5.3 Volcano Islands, Japan region
M 3.8 9 km E of Honmachi, Japan
M 5.6 209 km ESE of Ōfunato, JapanFelt · 1
M 4.8 147 km E of Miyako, Japan
M 3.3 1 km N of Honmachi, Japan
M 4.2 6 km N of Ashikaga, Japan
M 4.7 77 km E of Tomioka, JapanFelt · 1
M 5.0 31 km S of Nemuro, Japan
M 3.6 7 km N of Motobu, Japan
M 4.3 10 km SW of Tomakomai, Japan
M 4.5 99 km ENE of Noda, Japan
M 4.9 90 km SE of Taira, Japan
M 4.2 74 km ENE of Noda, Japan
M 3.8 1 km N of Honmachi, Japan
M 4.6 Bonin Islands, Japan region
M 3.3 10 km ESE of Hamanaka-sakuraminami, Japan
M 3.8 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
M 3.9 4 km E of Wakasu, Japan
M 4.5 4 km NNW of Honchō, Japan
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Frequently asked questions
Was there an earthquake in Japan today?
Yes — 3 earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or above were recorded in the last 24 hours. The list on this page is rebuilt every 30 minutes, newest first.
How many earthquakes does Japan get?
171 of magnitude 3.0 or above in the last 30 days, 25 of them in the last 7. Most are too small to feel; that is normal for a seismically active region.
What was the biggest recent earthquake in Japan?
Magnitude 6.0 on August 23, 2026, 32 km SSW of Honchō, Japan, at a depth of 41.0 km. 12 people reported feeling it.
How deep are earthquakes in Japan?
In the last 30 days they ranged from 0.0 km to 516.4 km deep. Shallow earthquakes are felt more strongly near the epicentre; deep ones are felt weakly over a wider area.
How can I get earthquake alerts for Japan?
Install the free SeismoWatch Android app, draw a box over Japan, set a minimum magnitude, and turn alerts on. Alerts are sent after an event is published, so they are not an early warning.
Where does this data come from?
From the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) global catalog and the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), deduplicated. Each event links to its own page with the full record.
The strongest earthquakes recorded in Japan since 1960
The 10 largest events of magnitude 6.0 or above in the Japan monitoring area, from the USGS catalog. Recent activity is best read against this: a region's ordinary weeks look very different from its worst days.
| Magnitude | Location | Date | Depth |
|---|---|---|---|
| M 9.1 | 2011 Great Tohoku Earthquake, Japan | March 11, 2011 | 29.0 km |
| M 8.2 | 1968 Tokachi-Oki Earthquake | May 16, 1968 | 26.9 km |
| M 8.2 | 2003 Tokachi-Oki Earthquake | September 25, 2003 | 27.0 km |
| M 8.0 | 113 km ENE of Miyako, Japan | March 20, 1960 | 15.0 km |
| M 7.9 | 70 km S of Honchō, Japan | May 16, 1968 | 31.1 km |
| M 7.9 | 47 km E of Ōarai, Japan | March 11, 2011 | 42.6 km |
| M 7.8 | Bonin Islands, Japan region | May 30, 2015 | 664.0 km |
| M 7.8 | off the east coast of Honshu, Japan | December 28, 1994 | 26.5 km |
| M 7.7 | 19 km ESE of Nemuro, Japan | June 17, 1973 | 48.0 km |
| M 7.7 | 68 km ESE of Ishinomaki, Japan | June 12, 1978 | 44.0 km |
Coverage and data notes
Events are preliminary, so magnitudes and locations may be revised. This page uses a rectangular monitoring area around Japan, so border areas and nearby offshore zones can include events outside the administrative boundary. Completeness varies: a national network usually records more small earthquakes than the catalogs used here, so treat the counts as a floor rather than a census.
Event data: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) and, in Venezuela, FUNVISIS. Populated places and time zones: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Preliminary solutions are revised as more observations arrive.