Shallow M5.2 Earthquake hit in the North Pacific Ocean 299km from Kushiro (Japan) on Sunday Afternoon.

Written by Earthquakelist.org on December 21st, 2025. Last updated January 7th, 2026.

In the early afternoon of Sunday December 21st, 2025, a shallow and significant Magnitude 5.2 earthquake hit in the North Pacific Ocean 299 kilometer from Kushiro, Japan.

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Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the North Pacific Ocean, 245 kilometers (152 mi) off the coast of Japan, 299 kilometer east of Kushiro in Hokkaido. 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:	Dec 21, 2025 12:48 (Tokyo Time) - Dec 21, 2025 03:48 Universal Time.
Location:	299 km east of Kushiro, Hokkaido, Japan. Coordinates 43°27'26"N 148°0'40"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.2 Detected by 15 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.08 .
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 . Nemuro in Hokkaido, Japan is the nearest significant place from the epicenter. The earthquake occurred 197 kilometer (122 mi) east of Nemuro.

The table below provides an overview of all places in proximity of today's earthquake.

Overview of nearby places

3 Aftershocks detected

This main shock was followed by 3 smaller aftershocks. Just 16 mins after this main shock, an earthquake measuring MAG-5.1 was detected 4 km (2.4 mi) south-east of this earthquake.

This main shock was prefaced by 12 smaller foreshocks. Nearby this earthquake a foreshock struck 2 hrs earlier. It measured a magnitude of 5.1

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.

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 20th, 2025, when a 5.3 magnitude earthquake hit 183 km (114 mi) further west-southwest. An even stronger magnitude 7 earthquake struck on February 13th, 2020.

In total, 37 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 3 months.

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 07/01/26 05:58 (). 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 us6000rwa0
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20251221_0000061
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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