April 17, 1948 Earthquake: Tokaido, Japan
An earthquake struck Tokaido, Japan on April 17, 1948 at 16:11:00 UTC, 40 km below the surface. It caused a tsunami.
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
- April 17, 1948
- Time
- 16:11:00 UTC
- Place
- Tokaido, Japan
- Focal depth
- 40 km (25 mi)
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 33.100° N, 135.600° E
- Country
- Japan
The toll
The record gives no deaths, injuries or damage for this earthquake.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
Reference #414:
1948, April 18, 1:11 local time. There was an earthquake in the region of the Kii Peninsula.
Iida et al. (1967): 17.IV; 16h11m; 33.1 N., 135.6 E.; 40 km; M=7.2, m=-1.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- January 16, 1995, Kobe, Awaji-Shima, Nishinomiya, SW Honshu, Japan
- February 3, 1605, Nankaido, Japan
- October 28, 1707, Nankaido, Japan
- December 24, 1854, Nankaido, Japan
- December 20, 1946, S Coast, Honshu, Japan
- December 7, 1944, Off Southeast Coast Kii Peninsula, Japan
- December 20, 1711, Seionaikai, Japan
- August 3, 1361, Nankaido, Japan
- June 17, 2018, Osaka, Japan
- February 22, 1099, Nankaido, Japan
- August 26, 887, Nankaido, Japan
- September 20, 1498, Nankaido, Japan
- November 22, 1360, Kumanonada, Japan
- August 15, 1331, Sagami, Japan
- April 4, 1520, Kii, Kumananonada, Japan
More
Significant earthquakes of 1948The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1948Recent 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 6356.