M4.6 earthquake 37 km S of ?funato, Japan
A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck 37 km S of ?funato, Japan on Mon, Feb 20, 1978, 1:53 PM JST (04:53 UTC), 74 km (46 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.1 78 km ESE of Ishinomaki, Japan. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 4.6 (mb), light
- Local time
- UTC
- 1978-02-20 04:53:30 UTC
- Depth
- 74.0 km (46.0 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 38.738° N, 141.776° E
- Region
- Japan
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Stations used
- 37
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.6 and up: 7 in the 60 days after this one and 3 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.442 km SE of ?funato, Japan · 17746 days ago · 63 km deep · 21 km away
- 4.452 km SSE of ?funato, Japan · 17746 days ago · 75 km deep · 23 km away
- 4.5118 km SE of ?funato, Japan · 17746 days ago · 33 km deep · 95 km away
- 5.178 km ESE of Ishinomaki, Japan · 17744 days ago · 86 km deep · 62 km away
- 4.477 km SE of Ishinomaki, Japan · 17743 days ago · 67 km deep · 94 km away
- 5.134 km SSE of ?funato, Japan · 17726 days ago · 64 km deep · 16 km away
- 4.541 km SE of ?funato, Japan · 17701 days ago · 68 km deep · 21 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayJapan earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0000t23. Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 6:13 AM UTC.