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M3.4 earthquake 38 km ESE of Kesennuma, Miyagi, Japan

A magnitude 3.4 earthquake struck 38 km ESE of Kesennuma, Miyagi, Japan at 13:53 local time (04:53 UTC) on 13 Sept 2026, at a depth of 50 km, according to JMA. The solution is preliminary and may be revised.

Data: JMA · updated 2026-09-13 04:56 UTC · automatic solution

Magnitude
3.4minor
JMA magnitude (Mj)
Depth
50 km
Status
Automatic
Origin time
2026-09-13 04:53:00 UTC
Local: 13 Sept 2026, 13:53:00 (Asia/Tokyo)
Epicentre
38.800° N, 142.000° E

Circles show this event and others within 30 km from 7 days before to 30 days after. Lines: plate boundaries and GEM active faults. Open on the live map

Nearby places

Distance and estimated shaking at nearby places
PlaceDistanceEst. shaking
KesennumaMiyagi, Japan · pop. 61,14738 kmINot felt
ŌfunatoIwate, Japan · pop. 35,45239 kmINot felt
KamaishiIwate, Japan · pop. 43,10755 kmINot felt
TōnoIwate, Japan · pop. 26,11071 kmINot felt
SendaiMiyagi, Japan · pop. 1,096,704115 kmINot felt
MoriokaIwate, Japan · pop. 290,700124 kmINot felt
FukushimaJapan · pop. 294,237177 kmINot felt
AkitaJapan · pop. 307,672191 kmINot felt

Shaking is an estimate from the intensity prediction equation of Allen, Wald & Worden (2012), not an observation. Local ground and buildings can change it by a level or more.

Every agency's solution

Agencies locate earthquakes with their own stations and methods, so their numbers differ. We match reports of the same event by time, distance and magnitude and show them side by side. The headline uses JMA.

AgencyMagnitudeDepthEpicentreTime offsetStatus
JMAheadlineJMA via Japan Meteorological Agency3.4 Mj50 km38.80° N, 142.00° E–Automatic

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How big was it?

Often felt by people at rest close to the epicentre, rarely causes damage.

It released roughly the energy of 1.9 t of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step means about 32 times more energy and 10 times larger waves on a seismogram. Depth matters too: at 50 km this was a shallow earthquake, which is felt more strongly at the surface than a deeper one of the same size.

M3.4 releases about 32× the energy of M2.4, and its waves are about 10× taller on a seismogram. Energy: 1.9 t of TNT vs 60 kg of TNT.

Each square is the energy of one M2.4. Energy from log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8.

Aftershocks and nearby activity

1 later earthquake within 30 km; the largest was M3.5 10 h ago. 2 in the 7 days before. Aftershock rates usually fall off roughly in proportion to 1/time.

Aftershocks

Mainshock M3.4

1 later earthquake nearby. Aftershock rates typically fall off roughly as 1/time (Omori's law).

Aftershocks
Time after mainshock (hours)MagnitudeDepth (km)
367.183.550
  1. 3.531 km SE of Ōfunato, Iwate, Japan09-28 12:04

Did you feel it?

Reports from people help show where shaking was strong. They are anonymous and shown here in aggregate.

Reports close 14 days after an earthquake.

Reports on SeismoAtlas

No reports yet.

Event id jma20260913135329. First recorded here 28 Sept 2026, 17:32:06 UTC. Solutions: JMA (jma:20260913135329). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M3.4 earthquake 38 km ESE of Kesennuma, Miyagi, Japan”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/jma20260913135329-m3-4-earthquake-38-km-ese-of-kesennuma-miyagi-japan, data from JMA.

JSON: /api/v1/events/jma20260913135329. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.