October 7, 1968 Earthquake: Bonin Islands, Japan
A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Bonin Islands, Japan on October 7, 1968 at 19:20:20 UTC, 516 km below the surface.
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
- October 7, 1968
- Time
- 19:20:20 UTC
- Place
- Bonin Islands, Japan
- Magnitude
- 7.5 (Ms)
- Magnitude scales
- Ms 7.5 · mb 6.8
- Focal depth
- 516 km (321 mi)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 26.300° N, 140.600° E
- Country
- Japan
- Region
- East Asia
- USGS record
- The USGS’s page for this earthquake
Ms: surface-wave magnitude. mb: body-wave (P-wave) magnitude. NCEI’s headline magnitude is the best of these for the 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.
Oct 7, 1968, 19:20:20.3 UTC, 26.3 N, 140.6 E, Bonin Islands, magnitude 6.8 mb, 7.5 MS, depth 516 km. (reference #1229)
Sources NCEI cites
The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.
- #1229 Bath, M., and S.J. Duda (1979). Some Aspects of Global Seismicity, Report no. 1-79, Seismological Institute, Uppsala, Sweden, 41 p.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
More
Significant earthquakes of 1968The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1968Recent 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 4466. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event iscgem815709, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.