Kyoto

Earthquakes near Kyoto, 1927–2026

From 1927 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 9 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Kyoto, or 200 km for magnitude 7 and above. 4 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest was a magnitude 8.1 on December 7, 1944 (1944 Toankai Earthquake).

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The last 30 days · as of

USGS recorded no earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more within 100 km of Kyoto in the last 30 days.

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What the record holds

The deadliest was not the strongest: a magnitude 6.9 on January 16, 1995 (8 km S of Akashi, Japan), for which NOAA records 6,434 deaths. 6 earthquakes here in these years are on NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes. NOAA records deaths in 5 of the events here, 12,084 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 5.5 on June 17, 2018 (near the south coast of western Honshu, Japan). NOAA lists 2 tsunamis that began within 100 km of Kyoto, and 5 from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 4.9 m, on May 22, 1960.

The events

  • June 17, 2018Earthquake · M 5.5near the south coast of western Honshu, Japan · 5 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • January 16, 1995Earthquake · M 6.98 km S of Akashi, Japan · 6,434 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • January 1, 1984Earthquake · M 7.277 km ESE of Owase, JapanUSGS
  • May 22, 1960Tsunami · 4.9 m hereSouthern ChileNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • December 7, 1944Earthquake · M 8.11944 Toankai Earthquake · 1,223 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia

Good to know

  • An event counts for Kyoto when it began within 100 km of its centre, or 200 km for an earthquake of magnitude 7 or more. Damage can reach further.
  • USGS counts here start at magnitude 6: the catalogue’s smaller quakes thin out going back, where few instruments listened.
  • NOAA lists significant events only: earthquakes that killed, did about $1 million of damage, reached magnitude 7.5 or intensity X, or raised a tsunami, and eruptions and tsunamis by like measures. Magnitudes before 1900 are its estimates from written accounts.
  • Deaths are NOAA’s total for each event, wherever people died, its tsunami and fires included. A tsunami counts the dead its runup records give for this place: NOAA’s total for a tsunami includes its source quake’s.
  • A tsunami from elsewhere counts where one of its runups killed or rose a metre or more.
  • Counted to October 19, 2026, as is the map. The last 30 days ask USGS again.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Earthquakes, live, The world through history

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