Shallow M5.1 Earthquake struck on Wednesday Evening in the North Pacific Ocean 135km from Hachinohe (Japan).

Written by Earthquakelist.org on January 28th, 2026. Last updated February 18th, 2026.

A shallow and significant Magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck in the North Pacific Ocean 135 kilometer from Hachinohe, Japan in the evening of Wednesday January 28th, 2026.

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Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the North Pacific Ocean, 127 kilometers (79 mi) off the coast of Japan, 135 kilometer east of Hachinohe in Aomori. The center of this earthquake had a quite shallow depth of 27 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Jan 28, 2026 19:45 (Tokyo Time) - Jan 28, 2026 10:45 Universal Time.
Location:	135 km east of Hachinohe, Aomori, Japan. Coordinates 40°15'42"N 143°3'40"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.1 Detected by 23 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.065 .
Depth:	27 km (17 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 . Miyako in Iwate, Japan is the nearest significant place from the epicenter. The earthquake occurred 117 kilometer (73 mi) north-east of Miyako.

Multiple large cities are in proximity of today's earthquake. Sendai is located 291 km to the southwest. Hachinohe is located 135 km to the west. Morioka is located 174 km to the west-southwest.

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

Overview of nearby places

Aftershocks detected

After this earthquake struck, 1 smaller aftershock occurred. At a distance of 33 km (21 mi) south of this earthquake, an aftershock struck 2 days later. It measured a magnitude of 4.6

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

More earthquakes coming?

Aftershocks are usually at least 1 order of magnitude less strong than main shocks. The more time passes, the smaller the chance and likely strength of any potential aftershocks.

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. This is the strongest earthquake to hit since January 22nd, 2026, when a 5.3 magnitude earthquake hit 114 km (71 mi) further north-northwest. An even stronger magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck on December 8th, 2025.

In total, 136 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 27 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 18/02/26 13:18 (). 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 us6000s4z6
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20260128_0000198
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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