Significant M5.2 FORESHOCK struck on Sunday Night in the North Pacific Ocean 184km from Morioka (Japan).

Written by Earthquakelist.org on November 8th, 2025. Last updated December 5th, 2025.

In the early morning of Sunday November 9th, 2025, a significant MAG-5.2 foreshock hit in the North Pacific Ocean 184 kilometer from Morioka, Japan.

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Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the North Pacific Ocean, 136 kilometers (84 mi) off the coast of Japan, 184 kilometer east of Morioka in Iwate. The center of this earthquake had a quite shallow depth of 30 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Nov 9, 2025 05:29 (Tokyo Time) - Nov 8, 2025 20:29 Universal Time.
Location:	184 km east of Morioka, Iwate, Japan. Coordinates 39°34'27"N 143°17'28"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.2 Detected by 21 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.068 .
Depth:	30 km (19 mi) A quite shallow depth.
Tsunami Risk:	Low tsunami risk Earthquakes under MAG-6.5 do not usually cause tsunami's. Always stay cautious - More info here.

Nearby towns and cities

This earthquake may have been felt in Japan . Miyako in Iwate, Japan is the nearest significant place from the epicenter. The earthquake occurred 116 kilometer (72 mi) east of Miyako.

Multiple major population centers exist within 300km of the earthquake that struck today. Sendai is located 255 km to the southwest. Morioka is located 184 km to the west. Hachinohe is located 184 km to the northwest.

An overview of nearby towns and cities is available in the overview below.

Overview of nearby places

This is likely a foreshock

This earthquake was followed by a stronger MAG-6.8 earthquake, classifying this earthquake as a foreshock.

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

More earthquakes coming?

Aftershocks are usually at least 1 order of magnitude less strong than main shocks. The more time passes, the smaller the chance and likely strength of any potential aftershocks.

In only six percent of cases, significant earthquakes are followed by a larger main shock, making the current earthquake a foreshock. While the chance of this happening is not so large, it is adviced to maintain cautiousness in the hours and days following a major earthquake.

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 4th, 2025, when a 5.9 magnitude earthquake hit 283 km (176 mi) further south-southwest. An even stronger magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck on March 16th, 2022.

In total, 86 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.2 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 month.

Low tsunami risk

Based on early data it appears this earthquake was not strong enough (lower than MAG-6.5) to be likely to cause destructive tsunami's. However this earthquake appeared to have hit at a shallow depth under sea, so stay cautious and monitor advice from local authorities.

Tsunami Risk Factors

Sources

Last updated 05/12/25 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 us6000rmag
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20251108_0000332
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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