Shallow M5.3 AFTERSHOCK hit in the North Pacific Ocean 260km from Sendai (Japan) on Friday Night.

Written by Earthquakelist.org on November 13th, 2025. Last updated December 6th, 2025.

In the North Pacific Ocean 260 kilometer from Sendai, Japan, a shallow and significant MAG-5.3 aftershock occurred in the night of Friday November 14th, 2025.

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Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the North Pacific Ocean, 168 kilometers (104 mi) off the coast of Japan, 260 kilometer east-northeast of Sendai in Miyagi. The center of this earthquake had a very shallow depth of 10 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Nov 14, 2025 04:58 (Tokyo Time) - Nov 13, 2025 19:58 Universal Time.
Location:	260 km ENE of Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. Coordinates 39°18'8"N 143°33'40"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.3 Detected by 17 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.075 .
Depth:	10 km (6 mi) A very 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 . Yamada in Iwate, Japan is the nearest significant place from the epicenter. The earthquake occurred 140 kilometer (87 mi) east of Yamada.

Major cities near this earthquake: Sendai is located 260 km to the west-southwest. Morioka is located 212 km to the west-northwest. Hachinohe is located 221 km to the northwest.

A complete list of nearby places is included below.

Overview of nearby places

This is likely an aftershock

Approximately 2 days before this earthquake hit, a larger 5.3 magnitude earthquake struck 62 km (38 mi) north-northwest of this one. For that reason, we classify the Mag. 5.3 earthquake as an aftershock.

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

More earthquakes coming?

Earthquakes can create aftershocks. These are generally at least 1 magnitude lower than any main shock, and as time passes the chance and strength of aftershocks decreases.

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.

Earthquakes like this happen often in the region

Earthquakes of this strength are very common in the region. In total, 99 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.3 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 06/12/25 22:58 (). 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 us6000rn50
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20251113_0000451
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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