[Brian Mosely]

Magnitude 8.0 - HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
2003 September 25 19:50:08 UTC

Preliminary Earthquake Report
U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center
World Data Center for Seismology, Denver

A great earthquake occurred at 19:50:08 (UTC) on Thursday, September 25, 2003. The magnitude 8.0 event has been located in the HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION. (This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.)

Magnitude	8.0
Date-Time	Thursday, September 25, 2003 at 19:50:08 (UTC) = Coordinated Universal Time Friday, September 26, 2003 at 4:50:08 AM = local time at epicenter
Location	42.171°N, 143.719°E
Depth	33 km (21 miles) set by location program
Region	HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
Distances	105 km (65 miles) SSW (212°) from Kushiro, Hokkaido, Japan 397 km (247 miles) SSE (155°) from Wakkanai, Hokkaido, Japan 477 km (297 miles) SW (226°) from Kuril'sk, Kuril Islands
Location Uncertainty	horizontal +/- 8.3 km (5.2 miles); depth fixed by location program
Parameters	Nst=123, Nph=123, Dmin=537.2 km, Rmss=1.09 sec, Gp= 50°, M-type=moment magnitude (Mw), Version=7
Source	U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center World Data Center for Seismology, Denver

[AmericanInTokyo]

Thats more like it.

[Dog Gone]

That's an awfully deep earthquake, over 110,000 feet below the ocean floor.

It's the shallow ones that are most dangerous.

[AgThorn]

Strong Earthquake Hits Hokkaido in Northern Japan

Thursday, September 25, 2003

TOKYO — A strong earthquake (search) struck Japan's northern Hokkaido area (search) early Friday, news reports said.

The quake hit southern Hokkaido at about 4:50 a.m. and was felt in central Hidaka and eastern Tokatsu, the Japan Meteorological Agency (search) said, according to the Kyodo news agency.

Under the Japanese seismic classification, the earthquake was strong enough to damage homes and trigger landslides, the agency said.