A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.5 hit off the east coast of Honshu, Japan, at 14:18 UTC on March 26, 2026. The agency is reporting a depth of 9.5 km (5.9 miles). JMA is reporting M6.5 at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles) while EMSC reports M6.5 at a depth of 7 km (4.3 miles).
Heavy snowfall affecting Japan since late January 2026 has left at least 46 people dead and more than 550 injured while causing widespread agricultural damage across the Tohoku region and Niigata Prefecture. Snowfall reached 148 cm (58 inches) in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, in January, breaking branches in apple orchards, collapsing vinyl greenhouses, and burying farm roads that remain inaccessible in some areas. Authorities say the full extent of agricultural losses may not be known until snow cover recedes.
A strong earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.0 struck the Volcano Islands, Japan region at 03:55 UTC on March 2, 2026. The agency is reporting a depth of 20 km (12.4 miles). EMSC is reporting the same magnitude and depth.
At least six locations in Japan recorded record-breaking cold on the morning of February 9, 2026, as temperatures fell below -3°C (26.6°F) for the first time since 1984. The death toll from the record-breaking snowfall since January 20 has climbed to 46 as of February 10.
At least 30 people have died across Japan since January 20, 2026, due to record-breaking snow affecting much of the country, with Aomori seeing the heaviest accumulation in 40 years on February 1. The self-defense forces were deployed in Aomori City for the first time in 21 years due to the serious threat to life amid heavy snow.
At least ten people were killed across Japan in late January 2026 as heavy snowfall and repeated cold waves affected wide areas of the country. Sapporo surpassed total accumulations of over 1 m (3.3 feet) for the first time since 2022 on Sunday, January 25, while accumulations at Hakkōda Mountains in Aomori reached around 4.5 m (14.8 feet) by Monday, January 26. More snow and strong winds are forecast along the Sea of Japan coast through this week as a cold air mass intensifies.
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.1 hit the Volcano Islands, Japan region at 16:37 UTC on January 21, 2026. The agency is reporting a depth of 25.5 km (15.8 miles). EMSC is reporting the same magnitude and depth.
A sightseeing helicopter carrying two Taiwanese tourists and a Japanese pilot was found wrecked near the crater of Mount Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on January 20, 2026, after disappearing during a short flight earlier the same day. Rescue operations have been severely hampered by dense volcanic gas emissions and poor visibility around the active crater.
Severe blizzards with heavy snow and strong winds are forecast to hit much of Japan through Monday, January 12, 2026. These conditions will affect areas from Hokkaido in the north to Kyushu in the southwest, especially along the Sea of Japan coast, with snow totals of upto 80 cm (31 inches) being forecast in mountainous regions.
Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) forecasts heavy snowfall around January 11–12, 2026, as a strong cold surge moves over Honshu, with warning-level accumulations expected along the Sea of Japan side including Hokuriku and Tohoku. Regional observatories report the potential for five-day snowfall totals exceeding 160 percent of seasonal averages, a rare magnitude for this time of year. This follows the early-January snowstorm that immobilized about 3 000 vehicles over a 23 km (14 miles) stretch of the Sanyō Expressway in western Japan.
