M4.5 earthquake 118 km SE of ?funato, Japan
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 118 km SE of ?funato, Japan on Tue, Feb 21, 1978, 2:38 AM JST (17:38 UTC), 33 km (21 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
- 4.5 (mb), light
- Local time
- UTC
- 1978-02-20 17:38:40 UTC
- Depth
- 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 38.418° N, 142.792° 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.
- Depth from
- OPERATOR_ASSIGNED
- Stations used
- 9
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 8 in the 60 days after this one and 6 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.178 km ESE of Ishinomaki, Japan · 17751 days ago · 86 km deep · 55 km away
- 4.477 km SE of Ishinomaki, Japan · 17750 days ago · 67 km deep · 98 km away
- 4.8139 km ESE of Ishinomaki, Japan · 17745 days ago · 29 km deep · 37 km away
- 4.9130 km SE of Kamaishi, Japan · 17734 days ago · 30 km deep · 35 km away
- 5.134 km SSE of ?funato, Japan · 17732 days ago · 64 km deep · 87 km away
- 4.3169 km ESE of ?funato, Japan · 17732 days ago · 33 km deep · 58 km away
- 4.541 km SE of ?funato, Japan · 17708 days ago · 68 km deep · 79 km away
- 4.6141 km ESE of Yamada, Japan · 17705 days ago · 31 km deep · 93 km away
Before
- 4.452 km SSE of ?funato, Japan · 17753 days ago · 75 km deep · 72 km away
- 4.442 km SE of ?funato, Japan · 17753 days ago · 63 km deep · 77 km away
- 4.637 km S of ?funato, Japan · 17753 days ago · 74 km deep · 95 km away
- 6.137 km SSE of ?funato, Japan · 17753 days ago · 60 km deep · 84 km away
- 5.1106 km ESE of Ishinomaki, Japan · 17754 days ago · 45 km deep · 36 km away
- 4.3112 km ESE of ?funato, Japan · 17781 days ago · 33 km deep · 18 km away
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Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0000t2j. Read Tue, Sep 29, 2026, 3:14 AM UTC.