M 6.8 in Japan on 01 May 2021 01:27 UTC

Event summary

This earthquake can have a low humanitarian impact based on the magnitude and the affected population and their vulnerability.

GDACS ID EQ 1267039
Earthquake Magnitude: 6.8M
Depth: 47.3 Km
Lat/Lon: 38.2296 , 141.6646
Event Date: 01 May 2021 01:27 UTC
01 May 2021 10:27 Local
Exposed Population: 1350000 people in MMI
2450000 people within 100km
Inserted at: 01 May 2021 01:49 UTC
INFORM Coping capacity:
1.5 (Japan)

GDACS Score

For more info on GDACS alert score click here.
  Earthquake
(Shakemap)		 Tsunami GDACS score
NEIC 0 0 0
us7000dz5t Scaled population (vector) 0 Max wave alert 0.08m  
  C1 shakemap -0.59 Max wave realtime 0.08m  
  C2 shakemap 0.53      
  Country Vulnerability 0      
  INFORM_normalised 0.57      
Maximum expected impact using different data sources.
Virtual OSOCC
Meteo assessment
Satellite products
Analytical products
Japan - Earthquake (ECHO 03 May 2021)Mon, 03 May 2021 16:43

  • An earthquake of 6.8 M at a depth of 47 km struck off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture (north-eastern Honshu island) on 1 May at 1:27 UTC (10:27 local time).
  • The epicentre was located approximately 35 km south-east of Ishinomaki City, which has been severely affected by the  9.1 M earthquake (Great Tohoku Earthquake) that occurred on 11 March 2011 and which caused more than 18,000 fatalities.
  • USGS PAGER estimates that up to 1,474,000 people were exposed to strong shaking and 1,303,000 people to moderate shaking. No tsunami alert has been issued.
  • According to the Japanese Fire and Disaster Management Authority (FDMA), three people have been injured in Miyagi Prefecture (two in Onagawa Town and one in Soma City). 
Detailed event map. European Union, 2024. Map produced by EC-JRC.
The boundaries and the names shown on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the European Union.

Updates on volcanic activity (Smithsonian)

Latest media headlines

Articles: 424 | About casualties: 18 | Last hour: 0

USGS earthquake warning system expands to cover entire West CoastTue, 04 May 2021 19:18:00 +0200.

The US Geological Survey's earthquake early warning system now covers the entire West Coast. As of Tuesday, residents in Washington will start receiving mobile alerts when an earthquake is about to hit, giving them a few moments to prepare.
...(more)
Earthquake, tsunami hazards from subduction zones might be higher than ... Tue, 04 May 2021 08:15:00 +0200.

Two of the most destructive forces of nature - earthquakes and tsunamis - might actually be more of a threat than current estimates according to new research conducted by scientists at The University of New Mexico and the Nanyang Technologi
...(more)
Earthquake And Tsunami Hazards Along Coasts Might Be Higher Than Expec ... Mon, 03 May 2021 22:32:00 +0200.

The researchers developed a new method to assess earthquake and tsunami hazards represented by the most distant part of offshore subduction zones and found that the hazard might have been systematically underestimated in some areas, meaning
...(more)
Earthquake And Tsunami Hazards Along Coasts Might Be Higher Than Expec ... Mon, 03 May 2021 22:24:00 +0200.

Understanding the potential rupture behavior of megathrusts, particularly in the shallow offshore part of the fault where most destructive tsunamis are generated, is therefore a critical task for geoscientists forecasting seismic and tsunam
...(more)

View more news

Estimated casualties (PAGER)

USGS estimates the number of casualties for each earthquake for the Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) product.
The graph shows the current fatalities estimate.

Exposed population

Data, images, links, services and documents

For this events, GDACS has links to information from the following sources: EC-JRC (91), (5), NEIC (6), OCHA (1), INGV (1), WMO (2), USGS (5), INFORM (4), NOAA (1),