On Wednesday Evening a Shallow M6.0 Earthquake struck in the North Pacific Ocean near Miyako (Japan).

Written by Earthquakelist.org on December 31st, 2025. Last updated January 7th, 2026.

A shallow and strong MAG-6.0 earthquake struck in the North Pacific Ocean 96 kilometer from Miyako, Japan in the evening of Wednesday December 31st, 2025. Around 3.6 million people have been exposed to shaking.

Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the North Pacific Ocean, 105 kilometers (65 mi) off the coast of Japan, 96 kilometer east-northeast of Miyako in Iwate. The center of this earthquake had a very shallow depth of 19 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Dec 31, 2025 23:26 (Tokyo Time) - Dec 31, 2025 14:26 Universal Time.
Location:	96 km ENE of Miyako, Iwate, Japan. Coordinates 40°6'43"N 142°53'19"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 6.0 Detected by 35 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.052 .
Depth:	19 km (12 mi) A very shallow depth.
Max. Intensity:	V Moderate On the Modified Mercalli Scale.
Tsunami Risk:	Low tsunami risk Earthquakes under MAG-6.5 do not usually cause tsunami's. Always stay cautious - More info here.

Minimal impact predicted

Based on scientific estimates by the US Geographic Survey (USGS), the risk of high fatalities for this earthquake is classified at level GREEN (low). They expect an 65% likelyhood of between 0 and 1 fatalities, and a 96% chance that the number of fatalities falls no higher than 10.

The USGS classifies the economic impact of this earthquake at level GREEN (low). They expect an 65% likelyhood of between 0 and 1 million US Dollars in economic damage and impact, and a 96% chance that the economic impact of this earthquake falls no higher than 10 million USD.

Roughly 3.6 million people exposed to shaking

This earthquake may have been felt by around 3.6 million people. That is the expected population size of the area exposed to a level of shaking of II or higher on the Modified Mercalli scale according to the USGS.

An estimated 380,700 people were exposed to level IV. At this level, light shaking and likely no damage can be expected. Intensity level III was experienced by the majority of people (around 3.2 million). In their region, weak shaking and probably no damage can be expected. All exposure to shaking was within the borders of Japan .

People	MMI Level	Shaking	Damage
0	I	Not noticable	None
3,830	II	Very weak	None
3,198,000	III	Weak	Probably none
380,700	IV	Light	Likely none
0	V	Moderate	Very light
0	VI	Strong	Light
0	VII	Very Strong	Moderate
0	VIII	Severe	Moderate to heavy
0	IX	Violent	Heavy
0	X	Extreme	Very heavy

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 96 kilometer (60 mi) east-northeast of Miyako. The intensity of shaking and damage in Miyako is estimated to be around level III on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale (weak shaking, probably no damage).

Multiple large cities are in proximity of today's earthquake. Sapporo is located 353 km to the north-northwest (intensity unknown, possibly low). Sendai is located 269 km to the southwest (intensity unknown, possibly low). Hachinohe is located 125 km to the west-northwest and experienced an intensity of IV (light shaking, likely no damage).

An overview of nearby towns and cities is available in the overview below. If places don't have intensity data available, it likely means the experienced impact in those places was fairly small.

Overview of nearby places

Cities and Towns around the epicenter of this earthquake.
Distance	Place	Intensity (MMI)
96 km (60 mi) WSW from epicenter	Miyako Iwate, Japan.	III Weak
108 km (67 mi) SW from epicenter	Yamada Iwate, Japan.	IV Light
125 km (78 mi) WNW from epicenter	Hachinohe Aomori, Japan.	IV Light
127 km (79 mi) SW from epicenter	Kamaishi Iwate, Japan.	III Weak
142 km (88 mi) WNW from epicenter	Misawa Aomori, Japan.	IV Light
146 km (91 mi) SW from epicenter	Tōno Iwate, Japan.	III Weak
153 km (95 mi) SW from epicenter	Ōfunato Iwate, Japan.	IV Light
155 km (96 mi) WSW from epicenter	Morioka Iwate, Japan.	III Weak
169 km (105 mi) WSW from epicenter	Shizukuishi Iwate, Japan.	III Weak
172 km (107 mi) WSW from epicenter	Hanamaki Iwate, Japan.	III Weak
177 km (110 mi) WSW from epicenter	Kitakami Iwate, Japan.	III Weak
179 km (111 mi) W from epicenter	Hanawa Akita, Japan.	III Weak
182 km (113 mi) SW from epicenter	Kanegasaki Iwate, Japan.	III Weak
186 km (116 mi) SW from epicenter	Mizusawa Iwate, Japan.	III Weak
192 km (119 mi) NW from epicenter	Mutsu Aomori, Japan.	III Weak
198 km (123 mi) WNW from epicenter	Aomori Aomori, Japan.	III Weak
199 km (124 mi) W from epicenter	Ōdate Akita, Japan.
201 km (125 mi) SW from epicenter	Ichinoseki Iwate, Japan.	III Weak
204 km (127 mi) WNW from epicenter	Kuroishi Aomori, Japan.
212 km (132 mi) WNW from epicenter	Hirosaki Aomori, Japan.
218 km (135 mi) WSW from epicenter	Ōmagari Akita, Japan.
219 km (136 mi) WSW from epicenter	Yokote Akita, Japan.
221 km (137 mi) WNW from epicenter	Goshogawara Aomori, Japan.
230 km (143 mi) WSW from epicenter	Yuzawa Akita, Japan.
233 km (145 mi) SW from epicenter	Ishinomaki Miyagi, Japan.	III Weak
236 km (147 mi) SW from epicenter	Yamoto Miyagi, Japan.	III Weak
239 km (149 mi) SW from epicenter	Furukawa Miyagi, Japan.	III Weak
240 km (149 mi) W from epicenter	Akita Akita, Japan.
243 km (151 mi) W from epicenter	Noshiro Akita, Japan.
256 km (159 mi) SW from epicenter	Shiogama Miyagi, Japan.	III Weak
257 km (160 mi) SW from epicenter	Tomiya Miyagi, Japan.	III Weak
258 km (160 mi) SW from epicenter	Rifu Miyagi, Japan.	III Weak
259 km (161 mi) NW from epicenter	Hakodate Hokkaido, Japan.	III Weak
268 km (167 mi) SW from epicenter	Shinjō Yamagata, Japan.
268 km (167 mi) NW from epicenter	Kamiiso Hokkaido, Japan.	III Weak
269 km (167 mi) SW from epicenter	Sendai Miyagi, Japan.
284 km (176 mi) SW from epicenter	Higashine Yamagata, Japan.
292 km (181 mi) SW from epicenter	Tendō Yamagata, Japan.
292 km (181 mi) WSW from epicenter	Sakata Yamagata, Japan.
292 km (181 mi) NNW from epicenter	Muroran Hokkaido, Japan.
301 km (187 mi) NNW from epicenter	Tomakomai Hokkaido, Japan.
301 km (187 mi) SW from epicenter	Yamagata Yamagata, Japan.
305 km (190 mi) WSW from epicenter	Tsuruoka Yamagata, Japan.
313 km (194 mi) N from epicenter	Obihiro Hokkaido, Japan.
336 km (209 mi) SW from epicenter	Fukushima Fukushima, Japan.
342 km (213 mi) NNE from epicenter	Kushiro Hokkaido, Japan.
351 km (218 mi) NNW from epicenter	Ebetsu Hokkaido, Japan.
353 km (219 mi) NNW from epicenter	Sapporo Hokkaido, Japan.
372 km (231 mi) SW from epicenter	Kōriyama Fukushima, Japan.
376 km (234 mi) NNW from epicenter	Otaru Hokkaido, Japan.
382 km (237 mi) SSW from epicenter	Iwaki Fukushima, Japan.
390 km (242 mi) SW from epicenter	Shibata Niigata, Japan.

Earthquake Intensity Map

The intensity in shaking and damage by this earthquake is illustrated through the map below. The highest intensity measured for this earthquake is IV.

I Not felt

II Weak

III Weak

IV Light

V Moderate

VI Strong

VII Very Strong

VIII Severe

IX Violent

X Extreme

Earthquake Intensity Map based on Shakemap Data provided by USGS.

Shaking reported by 2 people

People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 2 people have reported shaking in 2 places 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:

Morioka, Iwate, Japan: 1 person.
Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan: 1 person.

2 Aftershocks detected

This main shock was followed by 2 smaller aftershocks. A 4.9 magnitude earthquake hit 2 hrs later 98 km (61 mi) north of this earthquake.

This main shock was prefaced by 2 smaller foreshocks. A 4.8 magnitude earthquake hit 15 hrs earlier nearby.

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

Detected MAG2.5+ earthquakes within within 100km (62 mi), that occurred in the three days before and after the main shock.
Classification	Magnitude	When	Where
Foreshock	M 4.8	16 hrs earlier Dec 31, 2025 07:19 (Tokyo Time)	60 km (37 mi) SSE from Main Shock.
Foreshock	M 4.8	15 hrs earlier Dec 31, 2025 08:51 (Tokyo Time)	71 km (44 mi) SSW from Main Shock.
Main Shock This Earthquake	M 6.0	Dec 31, 2025 23:26 (Tokyo Time)	-
Aftershock	M 4.4	23 mins later Dec 31, 2025 23:50 (Tokyo Time)	94 km (58 mi) WSW from Main Shock.
Aftershock	M 4.9	2 hrs later Jan 1, 2026 01:30 (Tokyo Time)	98 km (61 mi) N from Main Shock.

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

Read: How to Stay Safe during an Earthquake (cdc.gov).

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 12th, 2025, when a 6.7 magnitude earthquake hit 90 km (56 mi) further north. An even stronger magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck on December 8th, 2025.

In total, 28 earthquakes with a magnitude of 6 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 4 months.

Low tsunami risk

DISCLAIMER: We strongly suggest to closely monitor advice from local authorities with regards to tsunami risks. Our analysis is based on automatically collected data from external sources, and these might contain mistakes. In addition, earthquakes can cause landslides that may lead to a tsunami, or be a followed by another, potentially stonger, earthquake.

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

Factor	Under Sea?	MAG-6.5 or stronger?	Shallow depth?
Explanation	Almost all tsunami's are caused by earthquakes with their epicenter under sea or very near the sea. However stay cautious in coastal areas as earthquakes on land may cause landslides into sea, potentially still causing a local tsunami.	Under MAG 6.5: Very unlikely to cause a tsunami. MAG 6.5 to 7.5: Destructive tsunami's do occur, but are uncommon. Likely to observe small sea level changes. MAG 7.6+: Earthquakes with these magnitudes might produce destructive tsunami's.	Most destructive tsunami's are caused by shallow earthquakes with a depth between 0 and 100km under the surface of the earth. Deeper tsunami's are unlikely to displace to ocean floor.
This Earthquake	This earthquake appears to have struck under the sea.	Not this earthquake. This earthquake had a magnitude of 6. Earthquakes of this strength are unlikely to trigger a tsunami.	This earthquake occurred at a depth of of 19 km (12 mi). Earthquakes this shallow could trigger a tsunami.

Sources

Last updated 07/01/26 14:28 (). 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.