Written by on . Last updated October 31st, 2024.

Under land 2 kilometer from Sakai in Japan, a MAG-4.7 earthquake occurred in the afternoon of Wednesday October 30th, 2024. The earthquake struck near a very densely populated region.

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Earthquake Summary

The earthquake struck on land in Japan, 2 kilometer (1 mi) west of Sakai in Ibaraki. The center of this earthquake had an intermediate depth of 75 km.

Date and Time: Oct 30, 2024 15:14 (Tokyo Time)
- Oct 30, 2024 06:14 Universal Time.
Location: 2 km west of Sakai, Ibaraki, Japan.
Coordinates 36°5'51"N 139°46'38"E.
Map: Map of area around epicenter.
Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude: MAG 4.7
Detected by 9 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.183 .
Depth: 75 km (46 mi)
An intermediate depth.
Tsunami Risk: Tsunami very unlikely
While this was a shallow earthquake, it appears to have occurred under land with a magnitude not strong enough to cause tsunami's.
Always stay cautious - More info here.

Nearby towns and cities

This earthquake may have been felt in Japan . Sakai in Ibaraki, Japan is the nearest significant place from the epicenter. The earthquake occurred 2 kilometer (1 mi) west of Sakai.

Multiple major population centers exist within 300km of the earthquake that struck today. Tokyo is located 46 km to the south. Saitama is located 24 km to the south-southwest. Yokohama is located 75 km to the south.

A complete list of nearby places is included below.

Overview of nearby places

Distance Place
2 km (1 mi)
E from epicenter
Sakai

Ibaraki, Japan.
5 km (3 mi)
WSW from epicenter
Satte

Saitama, Japan.
8 km (5 mi)
WNW from epicenter
Kurihashi

Saitama, Japan.
9 km (6 mi)
SSW from epicenter
Sugito

Saitama, Japan.
10 km (6 mi)
WSW from epicenter
Kukichūō

Saitama, Japan.
11 km (7 mi)
NNW from epicenter
Koga

Ibaraki, Japan.
12 km (7 mi)
ESE from epicenter
Iwai

Ibaraki, Japan.
13 km (8 mi)
S from epicenter
Kasukabe

Saitama, Japan.
14 km (9 mi)
SW from epicenter
Shiraoka

Saitama, Japan.
16 km (10 mi)
W from epicenter
Kazo

Saitama, Japan.
16 km (10 mi)
SSW from epicenter
Iwatsuki

Saitama, Japan.
17 km (11 mi)
E from epicenter
Ishige

Ibaraki, Japan.
18 km (11 mi)
SW from epicenter
Hasuda

Saitama, Japan.
18 km (11 mi)
SSE from epicenter
Noda

Chiba, Japan.
20 km (12 mi)
SW from epicenter
Ageoshimo

Saitama, Japan.
21 km (13 mi)
ESE from epicenter
Mitsukaidō

Ibaraki, Japan.
23 km (14 mi)
WNW from epicenter
Hanyū

Saitama, Japan.
23 km (14 mi)
N from epicenter
Oyama

Tochigi, Japan.
23 km (14 mi)
WSW from epicenter
Okegawa

Saitama, Japan.
23 km (14 mi)
S from epicenter
Koshigaya

Saitama, Japan.
24 km (15 mi)
NNE from epicenter
Yūki

Ibaraki, Japan.
24 km (15 mi)
SSE from epicenter
Yoshikawa

Saitama, Japan.
24 km (15 mi)
W from epicenter
Kōnosu

Saitama, Japan.
24 km (15 mi)
SSW from epicenter
Saitama

Saitama, Japan.
27 km (17 mi)
SSW from epicenter
Yono

Saitama, Japan.
28 km (17 mi)
NW from epicenter
Tatebayashi

Gunma, Japan.
29 km (18 mi)
SSE from epicenter
Nagareyama

Chiba, Japan.
29 km (18 mi)
W from epicenter
Gyōda

Saitama, Japan.
29 km (18 mi)
S from epicenter
Sōka

Saitama, Japan.
30 km (19 mi)
NW from epicenter
Sano

Tochigi, Japan.
31 km (19 mi)
ENE from epicenter
Tsukuba

Ibaraki, Japan.
32 km (20 mi)
SSW from epicenter
Shimotoda

Saitama, Japan.
32 km (20 mi)
SE from epicenter
Kashiwa

Chiba, Japan.
33 km (21 mi)
S from epicenter
Kawaguchi

Saitama, Japan.
34 km (21 mi)
SW from epicenter
Kawagoe

Saitama, Japan.
34 km (21 mi)
SE from epicenter
Abiko

Chiba, Japan.
35 km (22 mi)
W from epicenter
Kumagaya

Saitama, Japan.
36 km (22 mi)
SSW from epicenter
Asaka

Saitama, Japan.
37 km (23 mi)
SSE from epicenter
Matsudo

Chiba, Japan.
39 km (24 mi)
NW from epicenter
Ashikaga

Tochigi, Japan.
43 km (27 mi)
SW from epicenter
Sayama

Saitama, Japan.
43 km (27 mi)
SW from epicenter
Tokorozawa

Saitama, Japan.
46 km (29 mi)
S from epicenter
Tokyo

Tokyo, Japan.
47 km (29 mi)
SSW from epicenter
Nishi-Tokyo-shi

Tokyo, Japan.
48 km (30 mi)
SSE from epicenter
Honchō

Chiba, Japan.
53 km (33 mi)
N from epicenter
Utsunomiya

Tochigi, Japan.
63 km (39 mi)
SSE from epicenter
Chiba

Chiba, Japan.
64 km (40 mi)
S from epicenter
Kawasaki

Kanagawa, Japan.
64 km (40 mi)
SW from epicenter
Hachiōji

Tokyo, Japan.
69 km (43 mi)
SSW from epicenter
Machida

Tokyo, Japan.
75 km (47 mi)
S from epicenter
Yokohama

Kanagawa, Japan.
80 km (50 mi)
SW from epicenter
Uenohara

Yamanashi, Japan.
145 km (90 mi)
NE from epicenter
Iwaki

Fukushima, Japan.
155 km (96 mi)
WNW from epicenter
Nagano

Nagano, Japan.
177 km (110 mi)
SW from epicenter
Shizuoka

Shizuoka, Japan.
210 km (130 mi)
NNW from epicenter
Niigata

Niigata, Japan.
239 km (149 mi)
WNW from epicenter
Toyama

Toyama, Japan.
243 km (151 mi)
NNE from epicenter
Yamagata

Yamagata, Japan.
260 km (162 mi)
NNE from epicenter
Sendai

Miyagi, Japan.
279 km (173 mi)
WSW from epicenter
Nagoya

Aichi, Japan.
282 km (175 mi)
WSW from epicenter
Gifu-shi

Gifu, Japan.
289 km (180 mi)
W from epicenter
Kanazawa

Ishikawa, Japan.
296 km (184 mi)
W from epicenter
Ono

Fukui, Japan.
Cities and Towns around the epicenter of this earthquake.

Shaking reported by 116 people

People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 116 people have reported shaking in 7 places, all within Japan.We keep updating this article as more ground reports become available. You may report that you felt this earthquake here.

Places with most reports:

  • Musashino, Tokio, Japan: 33 people.
  • ShÅ?wa, Saitama, Japan: 23 people.
  • Mibu, Tochigi, Japan: 23 people.
  • Tokyo, Tokio, Japan: 19 people.
  • Higashimatsuyama, Saitama, Japan: 16 people.
  • Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan: 1 person.
  • Komae, Tokio, Japan: 1 person.

Risk of aftershocks?

This earthquake did not have any significant foreshocks nor aftershocks occurring within 100km (62 mi) of its epicenter.

The risk of aftershocks decreases rapidly over time. Usually, aftershocks are at least one order of magnitude lower than a main shock.

It's always adviced to be cautious of the risk of a larger shock following any significant earthquake, however this risk is fairly small. There is a roughly 94 percent change that no larger main shock will follow in the days following this earthquake.

Read: How to Stay Safe during an Earthquake (cdc.gov).

Earthquakes like this happen often in the region

Earthquakes of this strength are very common in the region. This is the strongest earthquake to hit since October 14th, 2024, when a 4.9 magnitude earthquake hit 75 km (47 mi) further south-southeast. An even stronger magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck on January 1st, 2024.

In total, 429 earthquakes with a magnitude of 4.7 or higher have been registered within 300km (186 mi) of this epicenter in the past 10 years. This comes down to an average of once every 9 days.

Tsunami very unlikely

DISCLAIMER: We strongly suggest to closely monitor advice from local authorities with regards to tsunami risks. Our analysis is based on automatically collected data from external sources, and these might contain mistakes. In addition, earthquakes can cause landslides that may lead to a tsunami, or be a followed by another, potentially stonger, earthquake.

While MAG-6.5+ earthquakes may cause tsunami's, it appears that the epicenter of this earthquake hit under land. In addition, the reported depth is deeper than 100km, making the risk of a tsunami even less likely. However always stay cautious and monitor advice from local authorities.

Tsunami Risk Factors

Factor Under Sea? MAG-6.5 or stronger? Shallow depth?
Explanation Almost all tsunami's are caused by earthquakes with their epicenter under sea or very near the sea. However stay cautious in coastal areas as earthquakes on land may cause landslides into sea, potentially still causing a local tsunami. Under MAG 6.5: Very unlikely to cause a tsunami.
MAG 6.5 to 7.5: Destructive tsunami's do occur, but are uncommon. Likely to observe small sea level changes.
MAG 7.6+: Earthquakes with these magnitudes might produce destructive tsunami's.
Most destructive tsunami's are caused by shallow earthquakes with a depth between 0 and 100km under the surface of the earth. Deeper tsunami's are unlikely to displace to ocean floor.
This Earthquake Not this earthquake.
This earthquake appears to have struck on land far from any coast.
Not this earthquake.
This earthquake had a magnitude of 4.7. Earthquakes of this strength are unlikely to trigger a tsunami.
This earthquake occurred at a depth of of 75 km (46 mi). Earthquakes this shallow could trigger a tsunami.

Sources

Last updated 31/10/24 00:08 (). This article is automatically generated based on available data. We keep checking multiple sources for additional information. This article gets updated as new details on this earthquake become available.

  1. US Geographic Society (USGS): Earthquake us7000nnyg
  2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20241030_0000058
  3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
  4. Google Maps: Static API
  5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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