Significant earthquake of magnitude 5.7 just reported 112 km east of Yamada, Japan

A magnitude 5.7 earthquake near Yamada, Shimohei-gun, Iwate, Japan, was reported only 10 minutes ago by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), considered one of the key international agencies that monitor seismic activity worldwide. The earthquake occurred at a shallow depth of 20. km beneath the epicenter late at night on Sunday, March 8th, 2026, at 11:17 pm local time. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
A second report was later issued by France's Réseau National de Surveillance Sismique (RéNaSS), which listed it as a magnitude 5.7 earthquake as well. Other agencies reporting the same quake include the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake at magnitude 5.7, and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) at magnitude 5.7.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Yamada (pop. 15,200) located 112 km from the epicenter, Miyako (pop. 51,200) 116 km away, and Kamaishi (pop. 43,100) 120 km away.
VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you’re in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.


Earthquake data:
Date & time: Mar 8, 2026 10:17 pm (GMT +9) local time (8 Mar 2026 13:17 GMT)
Magnitude: 5.7
Depth: 20.00 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 39.44°N / 143.19°E (Miyagi, Japan)
Primary data source: EMSC
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