Deep magnitude 6.0 earthquake strikes off Shima, Japan — no tsunami warning
A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck off the Pacific coast of Japan early on Sunday morning, 1 November, shaking parts of Honshu, Japan’s main island. The quake was recorded at 22:15 UTC on Saturday, 31 October, which was 7:15am local time on Sunday in Japan.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) put the epicentre about 58 kilometres south-south-east of Shima, a coastal city in Mie Prefecture, at a depth of 352.4 kilometres. That is far deeper than most earthquakes, and the depth is the main reason the shaking felt at the surface was limited.
No tsunami warning was issued. The USGS gave the event a green alert, its lowest level, meaning damage and casualties were considered unlikely. No felt reports had been filed in the first hour after the quake.
Shima sits on the south-eastern coast of Honshu, in a densely populated part of Japan’s Pacific seaboard. Osaka lies about 167 kilometres from the epicentre, and Tokyo about 319 kilometres away.
Why it matters
A magnitude 6.0 earthquake sounds alarming, and at a shallow depth it can cause serious damage. This one was different because it happened about 352 kilometres underground, deep inside the Earth. At that depth, the energy spreads out and weakens long before it reaches the surface, so the shaking people feel is far gentler than the size of the quake suggests.
That is why a strong earthquake can pass with little more than rattling windows and swinging lamps, even in a crowded country like Japan. It is also a reminder of why depth matters as much as size when scientists judge how dangerous a quake is. Japan sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where several tectonic plates meet, so earthquakes are a regular part of life there, and deep quakes like this one happen when one plate sinks far beneath another.
What happens next
Seismic agencies will keep watching the area for aftershocks, and the USGS may revise its figures slightly as more data comes in, as it often does after a large quake. Officials in Japan will check roads, railways and other infrastructure in the region, as they do after any sizeable tremor.
People in the affected areas should follow the advice of local authorities and Japan’s Meteorological Agency, and stay alert for further shaking. With no tsunami warning in place, coastal residents were not ordered to move to higher ground.
This article is for general information and education only. It is not legal or financial advice.
Sources
- https://watchers.live/2026/10/31/deep-m6-0-earthquake-strikes-near-shima-japan/ (Watchers.live, 31 October 2026)
- https://earthquaketoday.org/japan/shima-japan-M6.0-us7000tuku (Earthquake Today, 31 October 2026)
- https://zenitmap.com/en/earthquakes/japan-m6-0-2026-10-31-us7000tuku/ (ZenitMap, 31 October 2026)
