Shallow M5.1 FORESHOCK struck on Friday Morning in the North Pacific Ocean 125km from Hachinohe (Japan).

Written by Earthquakelist.org on December 11th, 2025. Last updated December 14th, 2025.

In the morning of Friday December 12th, 2025, a shallow and significant Magnitude 5.1 foreshock hit in the North Pacific Ocean 125 kilometer from Hachinohe, Japan.

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Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the North Pacific Ocean, 110 kilometers (69 mi) off the coast of Japan, 125 kilometer east-northeast of Hachinohe in Aomori. The center of this earthquake had a quite shallow depth of 28 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Dec 12, 2025 07:09 (Tokyo Time) - Dec 11, 2025 22:09 Universal Time.
Location:	125 km ENE of Hachinohe, Aomori, Japan. Coordinates 41°2'6"N 142°48'8"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.1 Detected by 145 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.047 .
Depth:	28 km (18 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 . Located 125 kilometer (78 mi) east-northeast of the epicenter of this earthquake, Misawa (Aomori, Japan) is the nearest significant population center.

Major cities near this earthquake: Sapporo is located 256 km to the north-northwest. Hachinohe is located 125 km to the west-southwest. Aomori is located 175 km to the west.

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

Overview of nearby places

Shaking reported by 1 person

People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 1 person has reported shaking in one place in 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:

• Iwanai, Hokkaido, Japan: 1 person.

This is likely a foreshock

This earthquake was followed by a stronger MAG-6.7 earthquake, classifying this earthquake as a foreshock.

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.

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 December 10th, 2025, when a 5.7 magnitude earthquake hit 22 km (14 mi) further south-southwest. An even stronger magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck on December 8th, 2025.

In total, 124 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 29 days.

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 14/12/25 21:28 (). This article contains currently available information about the earthquake and is automatically composed. We continue to update this article up to a few days after the earthquake occurred.

1. US Geographic Society (USGS): Earthquake us6000ru9z
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20251211_0000417
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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