Japan Earthquake Today: Live Map and Latest Quakes

Key context

What is normal in and around Japan

Over the 30 years 1996-2025, USGS recorded 3,691 earthquakes of M5 or more in and around Japan: about 123 a year, or 10 a month. The past 12 months had 158, about 28% more than the 30-year average. Quakes of M6 or more average 11.2 a year here (335 in 30 years), and 18 of them happened in the past 12 months.

Busy years usually mean one large quake and its aftershocks: the peak year here was 2011 with 861. Counts cover the Japanese islands and their offshore trenches, from the Ryukyu Islands to Hokkaido and the Bonin Islands. They come from the USGS ComCat catalog, which records small quakes more completely in the US than elsewhere, so compare like with like.

Largest earthquakes recorded in and around Japan

Plates and faults

Japan is one of the most active places on Earth because four plates meet under it. The Pacific Plate dives west under northern Japan along the Japan and Kuril trenches; the Philippine Sea Plate dives north-west under south-west Japan along the Nankai Trough and the Ryukyu Trench; and the islands themselves sit on the Okhotsk and Amurian plates, which are cut by many active faults.

The result is a mix of quake types: great megathrust quakes offshore (the M9.1 Tohoku quake of 11 March 2011), deep quakes in the sinking slabs, and shallow crustal quakes under the islands, such as Kobe in 1995 and the Noto Peninsula on 1 January 2024.

• Japan Trench and Kuril Trench (Pacific Plate, off Tohoku and Hokkaido)
• Nankai Trough and Sagami Trough (Philippine Sea Plate, off south-west Japan and Tokyo)
• Ryukyu Trench (Okinawa and the south-west islands)
• Izu-Bonin Trench (south of Tokyo, many deep quakes)
• Inland faults such as the Median Tectonic Line and the faults under Kobe and Noto

Where the recent quakes were

Of the 61 quakes of the past 30 days, 39 were shallow (less than 70 km deep), 17 intermediate (70-300 km) and 5 deep (more than 300 km). 61 reached M4 or more. The places USGS named most often were Bonin Islands, Japan region (7), Noda, Japan (4), Izu Islands, Japan region (4).

Official sources and warnings

• Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA): the official source for quake reports, shindo intensity, Earthquake Early Warnings and tsunami warnings in Japan.
• J-Alert and Earthquake Early Warning: JMA's early warnings reach phones, TV and loudspeakers seconds before strong shaking.
• Safety tips app (Japan Tourism Agency): free app that pushes quake, tsunami and weather warnings in English and other languages for visitors.

What to do in an earthquake

If you feel shaking: Drop, Cover and Hold On until it stops. Stay away from windows and heavy furniture, and do not run outside during the shaking. On a coast, strong or long shaking is a natural tsunami warning: move to high ground or inland at once, on foot if you can. Then follow your local officials; this page is not a warning service.

In Japan, follow JMA warnings and local announcements. When a coastal quake is strong or long, or a tsunami warning is issued, move to high ground or a tsunami evacuation building at once; do not wait to see the wave.