Very strong magnitude 6.3 earthquake at 34 km depth8 Dec 22:00 UTC: First to report: GFZ after 7 minutes.8 Dec 22:00: Now using data updates from EMSCI didn't feel itI felt this quakeEarthquake detailsDate & timeDec 8, 2025 21:52:42 UTC - Local time at epicenterTuesday, Dec 9, 2025, at 06:52 am (GMT +9)StatusconfirmedMagnitude6.3Depth34.4 kmEpicenter latitude / longitude40.944°N / 143.487°EJapanSeismic antipode40.944°S / 36.513°WShaking intensityVI Strong shaking near epicenterFelt0 reportsPrimary data sourceEMSC (European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre)Nearest volcanoMutsu-Hiuchi-dake (211 km / 131 mi)Estimated seismic energy released1.8 x 1014 joules (49.4 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 42502 tons of TNT or 2.7 atomic bombs!) | equivalent to ONE quake of magnitude 6.3 | about seismic energy8 minutes agoDec 8, 2025 21:52 GMT / Dec 9, 2025 06:52 am (GMT +9)Lat / Lng: 40.944 / 143.487: Off East Coast of Honshu, JapanSource: EMSCOther sources: GFZ: 6.0 / 34 kmDetail info | You felt it? - Report it!';storedMarkers.push(['quake-22477191',40.94400,143.48700,'8 minutes ago: Mag. 6.3, Off East Coast of Honshu, Japan',html,'quakes-8-24.png',35,35,17,17,127]); function mkRep(id,notFelt){var nFelt=notFelt||false;var src="https://www.volcanoesandearthquakes.com/app/earthquake-report.php?quakeId="+id;if(nFelt==true){src+="¬Felt=true";}window.open(src,"","status=0,toolbar=0,location=0,directories=0,menubar=0,resizable=1,scrollbars=1,height=400,width=350");} function locationHashChanged(e){-1!=e.oldURL.indexOf("#popupMap")&&closePopup()} window.onhashchange = locationHashChanged; function comment(e){var t=e.parentNode,a=(t.dataset.id,document.getElementById("commentForm"));"none"==a.style.display?(t.appendChild(a),a.style.display="block"):a.style.display="none"}function sendComment(e){var t=e.parentNode,a=t.parentNode.dataset.id,n=document.getElementById("commentContent"),p=n.value.trim();if(p){var o="id="+a+"&quakeId="+thisQuakeId;o+="&comment="+decodeURIComponent(p),mkRequest("//reports.volcanodiscovery.com/app/eqReportComment.php","post",o,function(e){e.responseText;alert("Thank you for submitting your comment!"),t.style.display="none",n.value=""})}}function flagReport(e){var t=e.parentNode.dataset.id;if(confirm("Report this as inappropriate?")){var a="id="+t+"&quakeId="+thisQuakeId+"&flagAsInappropriate=1";mkRequest("//reports.volcanodiscovery.com/app/eqReportComment.php","post",a,function(t){var a=t.responseText;alert(a),e.style.display="none"})}}function likeReport(e){var t="id="+e.parentNode.dataset.id+"&quakeId="+thisQuakeId+"&like=1";mkRequest("//reports.volcanodiscovery.com/app/eqReportComment.php","post",t,function(t){t.responseText;e.style.opacity=.5})}]]>[smaller] [bigger]Most recent quakes Top 20 past 24 hrs Quakes in JapanNearby placesThe closest larger town where the quake might have been felt is Urakawa, a town with 13,000 inhabitants in Japan, in 147 km (91 mi) distance northwest of the epicenter. People likely experienced light shaking there. In the capital of Japan, Tokyo, 672 km (417 mi) away from the epicenter, the earthquake was probably felt as weak shaking.The following table shows some of the places that might have been affected (or not) by the shaking.DistancePlaceMax. shaking intensity(*)RegionCountry147 km (91 mi)NW of epicenterUrakawa(pop: 12,800)IV: LightHokkaidoJapan168 km (104 mi)SW of epicenterKuji(pop: 34,400)IV: LightIwateJapan175 km (109 mi)W of epicenterHachinohe(pop: 239,000)IV: LightAomoriJapan175 km (109 mi)W of epicenterHitokawame(pop: 24,300)IV: LightKamikita-gun, AomoriJapan179 km (111 mi)W of epicenterMisawa(pop: 42,800)IV: LightAomoriJapan180 km (112 mi)NW of epicenterShizunai-furukawacho(pop: 22,400)IV: LightHidaka-gun, HokkaidoJapan194 km (121 mi)W of epicenterMutsu(pop: 56,200)IV: LightAomoriJapan195 km (121 mi)SW of epicenterMiyako(pop: 51,200)IV: LightIwateJapan195 km (121 mi)W of epicenterTowada(pop: 60,700)IV: LightAomoriJapan197 km (123 mi)W of epicenterNinohe(pop: 25,500)IV: LightIwateJapan221 km (137 mi)N of epicenterObihiro(pop: 166,500)IV: LightHokkaidoJapan229 km (142 mi)N of epicenterOtofuke(pop: 44,200)IV: LightKato-gun, HokkaidoJapan231 km (144 mi)SW of epicenterKamaishi(pop: 43,100)IV: LightIwateJapan232 km (144 mi)W of epicenterAomori(pop: 298,400)IV: LightAomoriJapan236 km (147 mi)SW of epicenterTakizawa(pop: 55,600)IV: LightIwateJapan238 km (148 mi)N of epicenterKushiro(pop: 167,900)IV: LightHokkaidoJapan242 km (150 mi)SW of epicenterMorioka(pop: 290,700)IV: LightIwateJapan243 km (151 mi)W of epicenterHanawa(pop: 36,900)IV: LightKazuno Shi, AkitaJapan245 km (152 mi)NW of epicenterTomakomai(pop: 174,800)IV: LightHokkaidoJapan247 km (153 mi)W of epicenterKuroishi(pop: 38,600)IV: LightAomoriJapan248 km (154 mi)W of epicenterHakodate(pop: 275,700)IV: LightHokkaidoJapan255 km (158 mi)NW of epicenterNoboribetsu(pop: 46,400)IV: LightHokkaidoJapan257 km (159 mi)W of epicenterGoshogawara(pop: 53,600)IV: LightAomoriJapan257 km (160 mi)W of epicenterHirosaki(pop: 168,700)IV: LightAomoriJapan257 km (160 mi)NW of epicenterHokuto(pop: 46,100)IV: LightHokkaidoJapan258 km (160 mi)NW of epicenterMuroran(pop: 96,200)IV: LightHokkaidoJapan258 km (160 mi)NW of epicenterChitose(pop: 98,000)IV: LightHokkaidoJapan258 km (161 mi)W of epicenterOdate(pop: 69,200)IV: LightOdate-shi, AkitaJapan266 km (165 mi)SW of epicenterHanamaki(pop: 94,700)IV: LightIwateJapan268 km (167 mi)NW of epicenterEniwa(pop: 70,300)IV: LightHokkaidoJapan273 km (170 mi)SW of epicenterKitakami(pop: 93,000)IV: LightIwateJapan276 km (172 mi)NW of epicenterKitahiroshima(pop: 58,900)IV: LightHokkaidoJapan280 km (174 mi)SW of epicenterKesennuma(pop: 61,100)IV: LightMiyagiJapan282 km (175 mi)SW of epicenterOshu(pop: 112,900)IV: LightOshu Shi, IwateJapan284 km (177 mi)SW of epicenterMizusawa(pop: 61,300)IV: LightOshu Shi, IwateJapan289 km (179 mi)NW of epicenterIwamizawa(pop: 85,100)IV: LightHokkaidoJapan289 km (180 mi)NW of epicenterEbetsu(pop: 134,000)IV: LightHokkaidoJapan295 km (183 mi)NW of epicenterSapporo(pop: 1,973,800)IV: LightHokkaidoJapan317 km (197 mi)SW of epicenterAkita(pop: 307,700)IV: LightAkitaJapan672 km (417 mi)SW of epicenterTokyo(pop: 9,733,300)III: WeakTokyoJapanNotes:(*) Shaking intensity according to the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale (MMI) and estimated using seismic models.User-reports for this quakeThere are no user reports for this quake yet.If you felt it, be the first to report it!I didn't feel itI felt this quakeIf you were near the epicenter and felt it, please share your experience and submit a short "I felt it" report! Other users would love to hear about it!If you did NOT feel the quake although you were in the area, please report it as well! Your contribution is valuable to earthquake science and seismic hazard analysis.Compare Quake DataData for the same earthquake as reported by different agenciesThe more agencies report about the same quake and post similar data, the more confidence you can have in the data. It takes normally up to a few hours until earthquake parameters are calculated with near-optimum precision.MagDepthTime GMT2025-12-8EpicenterAgency6.334 km21 mi21:52:42.63OFF EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPANEMSC (European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre)6.0834 km21 mi21:52:42.63Off East Coast of Honshu, Japan0 km (0 mi) epicenter difference with EMSCGFZ (German Research Centre for Geosciences)Earthquake statisticsAverage number of earthquakesBased on data from the past 25 years and our earthquake archive back to 1900, there are about 624 quakes on average per year in the area near the epicenter of this quake (within 100 km/61 mi):Mag. 6 or higher: 0.36 quakes per year (or 1 quake every 2.8 years)Mag. 5 or higher: 4.6 quakes per yearMag. 4 or higher: 22.3 quakes per yearMag. 3 or higher: 57 quakes per year (or 4.8 quakes per month)Mag. 2 or higher: 150 quakes per year (or 12.5 quakes per month)Mag. 1 or higher: 554 quakes per year (or 46 quakes per month)The area where this quake occurred has a very high level of seismic activity. It has had at least 10 quakes above magnitude 6 since 2000, which suggests that larger earthquakes of this size occur infrequently, probably on average approximately every 1 to 5 years.Number of quakes per yearPrevious quakes in the same area of this earthquake