M6.3 earthquake hits Volcano Islands, Japan region at intermediate depth
Image credit: TW/SAM, Google
A strong earthquake registered by the JMA as M6.3 hit Volcano Islands, Japan at 11:19 UTC on February 12, 2024. The agency is reporting a depth of 260 km (161 miles). The USGS is reporting the quake as M6.1 at a depth of 250 km (155 miles); EMSC as M6.0 at a depth of 254 km (159 miles).
The epicenter was located 821.7 km (510.6 miles) NNE of Saipan, Northern Marianna Islands.
There is no tsunami threat from this earthquake.
The USGS issued a Green alert for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses. There is a low likelihood of casualties and damage.
Overall, the population in this region resides in structures that are a mix of vulnerable and earthquake-resistant construction. The predominant vulnerable building types are informal (metal, timber, GI etc.) and unknown/miscellaneous types of construction.
Regional seismicity
Teo Blašković founded The Watchers in 2011 and edited it until 2026, covering seismic and volcanic activity, extreme weather, space weather and near-Earth objects. Articles on this page are his archive.
Published in the last 24 hours
- NASA built the Opportunity rover to last 90 days on Mars, and Martian winds helped keep it alive for nearly 15 years by blowing dust off its solar panels, until a planet-wide dust storm in 2018 blocked sunlight and silenced the rover Epicenter
- In the winter of 1811–12, earthquakes near New Madrid, Missouri, shook so hard that witnesses saw the Mississippi River flow backward, and the shaking left a brand-new lake in Tennessee Epicenter
- On 28 August 1859 a solar storm shocked telegraph operators and threw sparks on other lines, and on 2 September Boston to Portland clerks unhooked their batteries and kept sending for more than two hours on the aurora's current alone. Epicenter
- In 2019, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library hired hundreds of goats to eat 13 acres of brush around it; months later the Easy Fire surrounded the library, and the fire break the goats left behind slowed the flames before they reached the building Epicenter
