M6.3 earthquake near Kushiro, Hokkaido

What happened

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck 40 km E of Kushiro, Japan on 18 Jan 2005, 14:09 UTC at a depth of 42 km.

Earthquakes of this size are classed as Strong. Can cause damage in populated areas up to tens of kilometres away. This was a shallow earthquake, which tends to be felt more strongly at the surface.

The nearest town in our records is Kushiro, about 40 km away in Hokkaido, Japan.