M5.5 earthquake 6 km ESE of Hasaki, Japan
A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck 6 km ESE of Hasaki, Japan on Wed, Sep 2, 1981, 6:24 PM JST (09:24 UTC), 58 km (36 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.6 51 km E of ?hara, Japan. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.5 (mb, body-wave), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 1981-09-02 09:24:46 UTC
- Depth
- 57.6 km (35.8 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 35.707° N, 140.898° E
- Region
- Japan
- Strongest shaking
- IV, light shaking
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Magnitude estimates
Different scales measure different things and differ by a few tenths. The USGS marks one as preferred, and it is the one this page uses.
| Mag. | Scale | Computed by | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.5 | mb, body-wave | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed · 78 stations |
| 5.68 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 5.7 | Mwc, centroid moment | Global CMT project | Preliminary |
What happened
The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.
FELT (IV JMA) IN EASTERN HONSHU.
From the USGS event page for usp0001fmq. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.
Shaking
The USGS ShakeMap: shaking estimated from seismic stations and the quake’s size, on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale.
- Strongest estimated
- IV, light shaking
- Peak ground acceleration
- 3.7% of gravity
- Peak ground velocity
- 0.8 cm/s
- Map
- Automatic
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.5 and up: 10 in the 60 days after this one and 3 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.651 km E of ?hara, Japan · 16466 days ago · 44 km deep · 56 km away
- 4.53 km WNW of ?hara, Japan · 16464 days ago · 66 km deep · 70 km away
- 4.284 km SE of Hasaki, Japan · 16457 days ago · 33 km deep · 78 km away
- 4.843 km NE of Hasaki, Japan · 16456 days ago · 39 km deep · 42 km away
- 4.91 km ESE of Ishige, Japan · 16456 days ago · 87 km deep · 94 km away
- 4.674 km SE of Hasaki, Japan · 16455 days ago · 33 km deep · 68 km away
- 4.767 km SSE of Hasaki, Japan · 16442 days ago · 33 km deep · 62 km away
- 4.333 km ESE of Hitachi, Japan · 16439 days ago · 65 km deep · 82 km away
- 5.251 km E of ?hara, Japan · 16435 days ago · 38 km deep · 53 km away
- 4.449 km SE of Hasaki, Japan · 16416 days ago · 33 km deep · 43 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayJapan earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0001fmq (also filed as gcmtb090281b, gcmt19810902092446, iscgem610826, atlas19810902092446). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 12:46 PM UTC.