M6.2 earthquake near Motomachi, Hokkaido

What happened

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck 49 km SSE of Motomachi, Japan on 22 Jan 1959, 07:33 UTC at a depth of 15 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 Motomachi, about 50 km away in Hokkaido, Japan.