December 17, 1670 Earthquake: Boso, Japan

Date

December 17, 1670

Place

Boso, Japan

Magnitude

6.4 (Ms)

Tsunami

Yes: the tsunami it caused

Epicenter

35.500° N, 141.000° E

Country

Japan

Damage

Limited (under about $1 million) with its tsunami and other effects

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.

• September 1, 1923, Tokyo, Yokohama, JapanM7.9 · 105,385 deaths · $600 million · 695,000 houses destroyed · 143 km
• May 27, 1293, Kamakura, JapanM7.1 · 23,024 deaths · 149 km
• November 11, 1855, Tokyo, JapanM7 · 6,757 deaths · 50,000 houses destroyed · 110 km
• December 30, 1703, Off SW Boso Peninsula, JapanM8.2 · 5,233 deaths · 20,162 houses destroyed · 106 km
• November 4, 1677, Off SE. Boso Peninsula, JapanM7.4 · 500 deaths · 1,001 houses destroyed · 72 km
• November 25, 1930, Idu, Honshu, JapanM7.1 · 259 deaths · 8,099 houses destroyed · 190 km
• July 29, 1649, Tokyo, Japan200 deaths · 91 km
• September 12, 1495, Kamakura, JapanM7.1 · 200 deaths · 143 km
• March 1, 1633, Odawara, JapanM7.1 · 150 deaths · 167 km
• March 11, 1853, Odawara, Japan79 deaths · 136 km
• January 14, 1978, Tokkaido, Oshima, JapanM6.6 · 25 deaths · 85 houses destroyed · 176 km
• June 20, 1894, Tokyo, JapanM7.5 · 24 deaths · 90 houses destroyed · 102 km
• September 21, 1931, Honshu, JapanM7 · 16 deaths · 176 km
• January 15, 1924, Sagami, Japan14 deaths · 136 km
• April 11, 2011, Honshu, JapanM6.6 · 7 deaths · 3 houses destroyed · 175 km

Significant earthquakes of 1670The 1600sRecent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history

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 5978.