January 22, 1959 Earthquake: Sanriku, Japan
An earthquake struck Sanriku, Japan on January 22, 1959 at 05:10:00 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
- January 22, 1959
- Time
- 05:10:00 UTC
- Place
- Sanriku, Japan
- Focal depth
- 40 km (25 mi)
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 37.500° N, 142.200° E
- Country
- Japan
- Region
- East Asia
- USGS record
- The USGS’s page for this earthquake
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:
1959, January 22, 14:10 local time. There was an earthquake with source off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture, which was felt in the northern part of Honshu Island. It caused a weak tsunami which was registered by tide gauges.
Iida et al. (1967): 22.I; 5h10m; 37.5 N., 142.3 E.; 30 km; M=6.8, m=-3.
Sources NCEI cites
The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.
- #150 Iida, Kumizi (1984). Catalog of tsunamis in Japan and its neighboring countries. Aichi Institute of Technology, Yachigusa, Yakusa-cho, Toyota-shi, 470-03, Japan, 52 p.
- #414 Soloviev, S.L., and Ch.N. Go (1974). A catalogue of tsunamis on the western shore of the Pacific Ocean [dates include 173-1968. Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Nauka Publishing House, Moscow, 439 p. [Canadian Translation of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences no. 5077, 1984, translation available from Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information, National Research Council, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A OS2, 447 p.]
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- March 11, 2011, Honshu, Japan
- September 27, 1611, Aidu, Japan
- February 17, 1793, Sanriku,rikuzen,rikuchu, Japan
- July 6, 1905, Off Fukushima, Japan
- April 21, 1659, Aidu, Japan
- June 12, 1978, Sanriku, Japan
- April 11, 2011, Honshu, Japan
- March 16, 2022, Off Fukushima, Japan
- April 7, 2011, Near E Coast Honshu, Japan
- February 13, 2021, Off Fukushima, Japan
- November 5, 1938, Near E Coast Honshu, Japan
- October 2, 1678, Sanriku,rikuchu, Japan
- April 30, 1962, Sendai, Honshu, Japan
- November 6, 1938, Off East Coast Honshu, Japan
- July 19, 2008, Off East Coast of Honshu Island, Japan
More
Significant earthquakes of 1959The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1959Recent 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 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 6383. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event iscgem881240, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.