M8.1 earthquake 1944 Toankai Earthquake
A magnitude 8.1 earthquake struck 1944 Toankai Earthquake on Thu, Dec 7, 1944, 1:35 PM JST (04:35 UTC), 15 km (9 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 8.1 (mw), great
- Local time
- UTC
- 1944-12-07 04:35:45 UTC
- Depth
- 15.0 km (9.3 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 33.730° N, 136.200° E
- Region
- Japan
- Strongest shaking
- VII, very strong shaking
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Deaths and damage
From NOAA NCEI’s Significant Earthquake Database (record 3791), matched to this event by time and place.
- Deaths
- 1,223
- Injuries
- 2,135
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 26,146; 29,205 with its tsunami and other effects
- Houses damaged
- 46,950 with its tsunami and other effects
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
Shaking
The USGS ShakeMap: shaking estimated from seismic stations and the quake’s size, on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale.
- Strongest estimated
- VII, very strong shaking
- Peak ground acceleration
- 34.4% of gravity
- Peak ground velocity
- 3.9 cm/s
- Map
- Automatic
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.30
- Depth from
- From location
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 5.1 and up: 1 in the 60 days after this one and 0 in the 30 days before it.
After
Earthquakes todayJapan earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event iscgem899647. Read Wed, Sep 30, 2026, 9:48 PM UTC.