M4.5 earthquake 66 km E of Mutsu, Japan
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 66 km E of Mutsu, Japan on Tue, Jan 3, 2017, 6:24 AM JST (21:24 UTC), 55 km (34 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M4.8 78 km ENE of Hachinohe, 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 (Mwr, regional moment), light
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2017-01-02 21:24:20 UTC
- Depth
- 55.0 km (34.2 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 41.208° N, 142.000° E
- Region
- Japan
- Felt reports
- 4
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Did you feel it?
4 people reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was III, weak shaking.
Fault motion and ground failure
How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.
- Faulting
- Reverse (thrust)
- Moment magnitude
- 4.5 Mwr
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 30°, dip 80°, rake 109°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 145°, dip 22°, rake 27°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 5.8 km horizontally, 5.5 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.09
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 127°
- Stations used
- 169
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 5 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.480 km ENE of Mutsu, Japan · 3547 days ago · 60 km deep · 36 km away
- 4.878 km ENE of Hachinohe, Japan · 3543 days ago · 39 km deep · 71 km away · felt by 8
- 4.896 km ENE of Misawa, Japan · 3543 days ago · 57 km deep · 30 km away · felt by 2
- 4.279 km ENE of Mutsu, Japan · 3526 days ago · 61 km deep · 33 km away
- 4.642 km S of Shizunai-furukawach?, Japan · 3520 days ago · 65 km deep · 88 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayJapan earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us10007pbu. Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 4:38 PM UTC.