EARTHQUAKEM4.5

M4.5 earthquake near Muroto-misakicho, Japan

Map: the earthquake near Muroto-misakicho, Japan, with plate boundaries

A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 288 km (179 mi) south-southeast of Muroto-misakicho, Japan on Monday, November 2, 2026 at 01:54 UTC, at a depth of 510 km (317 mi), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Quakes this deep are usually felt widely but rarely cause damage. The nearest city of a million or more people is Kobe, about 427 km (265 mi) away.

MagnitudeM4.5
Depth510 km (317 mi)
Time (UTC)Nov 2 01:54
Location30.84°N 135.20°E
Nearest townMuroto-misakicho · 288 km
Energy85 tons TNT
Tsunami flagNo
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Why here?

This earthquake struck about 158 km (98 mi) from the boundary between the Eurasian and Philippine Sea plates. Most earthquakes happen along plate boundaries like this one, where the pieces of Earth’s outer shell collide, pull apart or grind past each other. Stress builds up over years until the rock suddenly slips. At 510 km down, it most likely broke inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle beneath its neighbor, in what geologists call a subduction zone.

The red lines on the map are plate boundaries.

How strong was it?

Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step releases about 32 times more energy. This magnitude 4.5 released roughly the energy of 85 tons of TNT. That is about 5.6 times the energy of a magnitude 4.0, a quake people nearby feel but that rarely causes damage. The strongest earthquake ever recorded, magnitude 9.5 in Chile in 1960, released about 32,000,000 times more than this one.

Earthquake history here

Before this earthquake, USGS had recorded 28 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or larger within 300 km (186 mi) since 1900. The strongest:

Official details, updates and the shaking map: USGS event page.

See every earthquake on November 2, 2026 or earthquakes by day.

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