May 27, 1293 Earthquake: Kamakura, Japan
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Kamakura, Japan on May 27, 1293. It killed 23,024 people.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- May 27, 1293
- Place
- Kamakura, Japan
- Magnitude
- 7.1 (Ms)
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 35.200° N, 139.400° E
- Country
- Japan
The toll
- Deaths
- 23,024
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
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.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
Destroyed main shrine and temples: Tsuragakoa Wakamiya, Daijiji, Kenchoji, Kamakura government offices were destroyed by earthquake, 23,024 deaths. Tsunami attacked Kamakura area. (reference #150)
Reference #1051 lists 22,000 deaths in Kamakura from the earthquake.
This earthquake occurred on 27May 1293 (Gregorian Calendar) or 13 April in sixth year of the Showo era (Japanese calendar). Because the era name changed fromShowo to Einin on 5 August (Japanese calendar) of the year, this earthquake is sometimes called the Einin earthquake. Utsu (2002) estimated the size as M 7.5, whereas Usami et al. (2013) estimated the size as M ≈7.5 […] The total number of casualties was reported to be from several thousands to 23,034 (reference #13909)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- September 1, 1923, Tokyo, Yokohama, Japan
- November 11, 1855, Tokyo, Japan
- December 30, 1703, Off SW Boso Peninsula, Japan
- September 20, 1498, Enshunada Sea, Japan
- October 28, 1707, Enshunada, Japan
- December 23, 1854, Enshunada Sea, Japan
- November 4, 1677, Off SE. Boso Peninsula, Japan
- November 25, 1930, Idu, Honshu, Japan
- April 9, 1858, N, Hida, Japan
- September 12, 1495, Kamakura, Japan
- July 29, 1649, Tokyo, Japan
- March 1, 1633, Odawara, Japan
- March 11, 1853, Odawara, Japan
- April 28, 1714, Oomati, Japan
- September 13, 1984, Mt Ontake, Central, Honshu, Japan
More
Significant earthquakes of 1293The 1200sRecent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 494.