A major earthquake registered by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) and USGS as M7.6 struck off the east coast of Aomori Prefecture, Japan, at 14:15 UTC (23:15 JST) on December 8, 2025. Both agencies are reporting a depth of 50 km (31 miles). According to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC), hazardous tsunami waves are possible within 1 000 km (620 miles) of the epicenter.
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.8 hit off the east coast of Honshu, Japan at 08:03 UTC (17:03 local time) on November 9, 2025. The agency is reporting a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) reported it as M6.7 at a depth of 10 km, while the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) reported M6.8 at a depth of 5 km (3.1 miles).
A strong earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.0 hit near the east coast of Honshu, Japan, at 15:21 UTC on October 4, 2025 (00:21 LT, October 5). The agency is reporting a depth of 46.8 km (29 miles). EMSC is reporting M6.0 at a depth of 47 km.
The Japanese government announced this week that much more must be done to prepare for a possible Nankai Trough “megaquake,” after a government panel raised the 30-year probability of a major event to up to 82 percent and new estimates projected as many as 298 000 fatalities and damages of up to USD 2 trillion.
Japanese authorities urged residents of Akusekijima Island to evacuate after another strong earthquake struck the region on July 3, 2025, the latest in a series of more than 1 000 quakes recorded since June 21.
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the JMA as M6.3 hit near the coast of Hokkaido, Japan, at 18:51 UTC on June 1, 2025 — 03:51 local time, June 2. USGS is reporting M6.0 at a depth of 31 km (19.2 miles).
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.1 hit near the coast of Hokkaido, Japan, at 08:37 UTC (17:37 local time) on May 31, 2025. The agency is reporting a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). JMA is reporting M6.1 at a depth of 20 km (12.4 miles).
A strong earthquake registered by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) as M6.0 struck off the east coast of Osumi Peninsula, Kyushu at around 23:04 JST (14:04 UTC) on April 2, 2025. The USGS is reporting M6.2 at a depth of 26 km (16 miles).
As Japan marks the 14th anniversary of the 2011 Tohoku mega-quake—a magnitude 9.0 disaster that killed nearly 16 000 and triggered the Fukushima crisis—a new study from Tohoku, Hokkaido, and JAMSTEC researchers warns that strain building in the Chishima Trench off Hokkaido could unleash another magnitude 9.0 quake in the coming decades.
Japan has increased the estimated probability of a magnitude 8 and 9 megaquake occurring in the Nankai Trough within the next 30 years to around 80% on January 16, 2025, after an M6.8 earthquake hit near the coast of Kyushu. The probability was previously estimated at 70 to 80%.
