August 20, 2016 Earthquake: Off East Coast Honshu, Japan
A magnitude 6 earthquake struck Off East Coast Honshu, Japan on August 20, 2016 at 09:01:26 UTC, 10 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
- August 20, 2016
- Time
- 09:01:26 UTC
- Place
- Off East Coast Honshu, Japan
- Magnitude
- 6 (Mw)
- Focal depth
- 10 km (6 mi)
- Intensity
- II, weak shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 40.394° N, 143.680° 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 happened
The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.
Felt (II) at Misawa. Also felt at Hachinohe and Sendai. Felt at Sapporo, Hokkaido. Recorded (3 JMA) in Iwate, Honshu.
From the USGS event page for us10006fdp. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.
Magnitude estimates
The magnitudes the USGS catalog lists for this earthquake, by scale and by who computed them. NCEI’s own scales are in the table above.
| Mag. | Scale | Computed by | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.0 | Mww, W-phase moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 6.01 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 6.0 | Mwb, body-wave moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Moment tensor · Reviewed |
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
Hachinohe, Aomori, Japan - CDI: 2; Misawa, Aomori, Japan - CDI: 2; Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan - CDI: 2; Sendai, Miyagi, Japan - CDI: 2; Matsudo, Chiba, Japan - CDI: 1; Felt (II) at Misawa. Also felt at Hachinohe and Sendai. Felt at Sapporo, Hokkaido. Recorded (3 JMA) in Iwate, Honshu.
Sources NCEI cites
The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.
- #13456 U.S. Geological Survey (2017 to present). Earthquake Hazards Program, Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS) Comprehensive Catalog of Earthquake Events and Products.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- June 15, 1896, Sanriku, Japan
- December 2, 1611, Sanriku, Japan
- March 2, 1933, Sanriku, Japan
- December 6, 1616, Sanriku, Japan
- May 16, 1968, Off East Coast of Honshu Island, Japan
- March 4, 1952, Hokkaido, Japan
- August 23, 1856, Oshima, Japan
- August 9, 1901, Off Northeast Coast Honshu, Japan
- December 28, 1994, Honshu, Japan
- September 25, 2003, Hokkaido, Japan
- July 23, 2008, N, Honshu, Japan
- February 20, 1979, Iwate, Japan
- January 29, 1763, Sanriku,mutsu, Japan
- April 8, 1994, Off East Coast of Honshu Island, Japan
- April 13, 1677, Sanriku, Japan
More
Significant earthquakes of 2016The 2000sEvery quake the USGS located in 2016Recent 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 10481. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event us10006fdp, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.