April 12, 2013 Earthquake: Japan
A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck Japan on April 12, 2013 at 20:33:17 UTC, 14 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
- April 12, 2013
- Time
- 20:33:17 UTC
- Place
- Japan
- Magnitude
- 5.8 (Mw)
- Focal depth
- 14 km (9 mi)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 34.369° N, 134.828° E
- Country
- Japan
The toll
- Injuries
- 24
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
- Houses damaged
- Few (about 1 to 50)
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.
Felt (V) at Kobe; (IV) at Nishinomiya, Okayama and Osaka; (III) at Hiroshima, Iwakuni and Nagoya. Felt throughout Shikoku and Awaji-shima. Felt widely in southern and western Honshu and northeastern Kyushu. Recorded (6L JMA) in Hyogo. (reference #1053)
A strong earthquake hit the western region of Japan on Saturday, injuring at least 24 people. The quake hit at 5:33AM and was measured at magnitude 6.3. The tremor was centered in the area around the island of Awaji, southwest of the city of Kobe, at a depth of around 15 kilometers. No one was killed in the quake. Seven of the 24 were seriously injured, and most of them were elderly who tripped and fell while trying to get to safe places. The strong earthquake, while fortunately not causing fatalities, left a notable amount of damage - cracked walls in homes, and roof tile broken and damaged. Some stores saw a good number of their products on shelves fall off. In some areas of the island, there was topsoil that became liquefied, a normal effect of quakes of this strength. (reference #10510)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- January 18, 1586, Ise Bay, Japan
- January 16, 1995, Kobe, Awaji-Shima, Nishinomiya, SW Honshu, Japan
- October 28, 1707, Nankaido, Japan
- February 3, 1605, Nankaido, Japan
- March 7, 1927, SW, Honshu, Japan
- December 24, 1854, Nankaido, Japan
- September 10, 1943, S, Honshu, Japan
- December 20, 1946, S Coast, Honshu, Japan
- July 9, 1854, Iga, Ise, Yamato, Japan
- December 20, 1711, Seionaikai, Japan
- August 3, 1361, Nankaido, Japan
- June 16, 1662, Yamasiro, Japan
- May 23, 1925, Tajima, Honshu, Japan
- August 19, 1830, Kyoto, Japan
- August 14, 1909, Oomi, Japan
More
Significant earthquakes of 2013The 2000sEvery quake the USGS located in 2013Recent 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 9980.