Significant M5.1 AFTERSHOCK struck on Tuesday Evening in the North Pacific Ocean near Mutsu (Japan).

Written by Earthquakelist.org on December 9th, 2025. Last updated December 10th, 2025.

In the evening of Tuesday December 9th, 2025, a significant MAG-5.1 aftershock hit in the North Pacific Ocean 93 kilometer from Mutsu, Japan.

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Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the North Pacific Ocean, 97 kilometers (60 mi) off the coast of Japan, 93 kilometer east of Mutsu in Aomori. The center of this earthquake had a quite shallow depth of 61 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Dec 9, 2025 18:09 (Tokyo Time) - Dec 9, 2025 09:09 Universal Time.
Location:	93 km east of Mutsu, Aomori, Japan. Coordinates 41°17'17"N 142°19'38"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.1 Detected by 14 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.083 .
Depth:	61 km (38 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 . The closest significant population center near the earthquake is Mutsu in Aomori, Japan. Mutsu is located 93 kilometer (58 mi) east of the epicenter.

Major cities near this earthquake: Sapporo is located 214 km to the north-northwest. Hachinohe is located 112 km to the southwest. Aomori is located 144 km to the west-southwest.

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

Overview of nearby places

This is likely an aftershock

This earthquake was an aftershock. A larger mag. 7.6 earthquake struck 31 km (20 mi) south-southwest in advance of this 5.1 earthquake around 19 hrs earlier.

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

More earthquakes coming?

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

The chance that a significant earthquake like this one is followed by an even larger earthquake is not so large. On average, scientists estimate a 94% chance that a major earthquake will not be followed by an even larger one. It is still adviced to be aware of this risk

Earthquakes like this happen often in the region

Earthquakes of this strength are very common in the region. In total, 118 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.1 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 10/12/25 04:08 (). As more information on this earthquake becomes available this article will be updated. This article is automatically composed based on data originating from multiple sources.

1. US Geographic Society (USGS): Earthquake us6000rtld
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20251209_0000129
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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