August 8, 1983 Earthquake: S Coast, Honshu, Japan
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck S Coast, Honshu, Japan on August 8, 1983 at 03:47:57 UTC, 25 km below the surface. It killed 1 person.
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
- August 8, 1983
- Time
- 03:47:57 UTC
- Place
- S Coast, Honshu, Japan
- Magnitude
- 5.3 (Ms)
- Focal depth
- 25 km (16 mi)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 35.500° N, 139.070° E
- Country
- Japan
The toll
- Deaths
- 1
- Injuries
- 28
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Some (about 51 to 100)
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.
One person killed, 28 injured, several houses damaged and landslides in Kanagawa, Tokyo, Saitama, Shizuoka, and Yamanashi Prefectures. A highway was cracked near Ogawa. Felt (IV JMA) at Kofu, Mishima, Tokyo and Yokohama. Felt (I JMA) from Osaka to Morioka and on Hachijo-jima. (Reference #1053)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- September 1, 1923, Tokyo, Yokohama, Japan
- May 27, 1293, Kamakura, Japan
- May 8, 1847, Zenkoji, Nagano, Japan
- October 27, 1891, Mino-Owari, Japan
- November 11, 1855, Tokyo, Japan
- December 30, 1703, Off SW Boso Peninsula, Japan
- September 20, 1498, Enshunada Sea, Japan
- January 12, 1945, S, Honshu, Japan
- October 28, 1707, Enshunada, Japan
- February 1, 1666, Takata, Japan
- December 23, 1854, Enshunada Sea, Japan
- November 25, 1930, Idu, Honshu, Japan
- April 9, 1858, N, Hida, Japan
- September 12, 1495, Kamakura, Japan
- July 29, 1649, Tokyo, Japan
More
Significant earthquakes of 1983The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1983Recent 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 7284.