Significant magnitude 5.2 earthquake 44 km southeast of Ishinomaki, Japan

A magnitude 5.2 earthquake near Ishinomaki, Ishinomaki Shi, Miyagi, Japan, was reported only 7 minutes ago by Japan's National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED), considered the main national agency that monitors seismic activity in this part of the world. The earthquake occurred at a moderately shallow depth of 49.90 km beneath the epicenter in the morning on Thursday, April 2nd, 2026, at 9:52 am 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.
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 Ishinomaki (pop. 140,200) located 44 km from the epicenter, Higashimatsushima (pop. 39,100) 52 km away, Shiogama (pop. 52,700) 60 km away, Tagajo-shi (pop. 62,800) 63 km away, Natori-shi (pop. 78,700) 72 km away, Sendai (pop. 1,096,700) 74 km away, Tome (pop. 77,900) 76 km away, and Osaki (pop. 128,800) 78 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: Apr 2, 2026 09:52 am (GMT +9) local time (2 Apr 2026 00:52 GMT)
Magnitude: 5.2
Depth: 49.90 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 38.18°N / 141.7°E (Ishinomaki Shi, Miyagi, Japan)
Primary data source: NIED
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