June 20, 1894 Earthquake: Tokyo, Japan
A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Tokyo, Japan on June 20, 1894. It killed 24 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
- June 20, 1894
- Place
- Tokyo, Japan
- Magnitude
- 7.5 (Ms)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 35.700° N, 139.900° E
- Country
- Japan
The toll
- Deaths
- 24
- Injuries
- 157
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 90
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.
Reference #1068 lists earthquake on Jun3 20, 1894, 36 N 140 E, 24 deaths, 90 houses destroyed in Tokyo.
Reference #1150 lists earthquake on June 20, 1894, 35.7 N 139.9 E, magnitude 7.5, 24 deaths, 157 injuries, 90 houses destroyed in Tokyo. In the 1894 earthquake, only 0.5 per
cent of wooden houses were destroyed while the rate was as much as 10 per cent with brick buildings which were introduced to Japan with the turn of the Meiji Period.
Reference #1055 lists earthquake on June 20, 1894, in Tokyo, intensity I which corresponds to an earthquake of intensity sufficient to crack walls, break chimneys, to shatter old buildings or to produce cracks in the ground.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- September 1, 1923, Tokyo, Yokohama, Japan
- May 27, 1293, Kamakura, Japan
- November 11, 1855, Tokyo, Japan
- December 30, 1703, Off SW Boso Peninsula, Japan
- November 4, 1677, Off SE. Boso Peninsula, Japan
- November 25, 1930, Idu, Honshu, Japan
- July 29, 1649, Tokyo, Japan
- September 12, 1495, Kamakura, Japan
- March 1, 1633, Odawara, Japan
- March 11, 1853, Odawara, Japan
- October 23, 2004, Niigata Prefecture, Honshu, Japan
- April 28, 1714, Oomati, Japan
- May 8, 1974, Nakagi, Japan
- January 14, 1978, Tokkaido, Oshima, Japan
- September 21, 1931, Honshu, Japan
More
Significant earthquakes of 1894The 1800sRecent 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 2453.