M 5.5 Earthquake Strikes Near Asahi, Japan

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck 5 kilometers east-southeast of Asahi, in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, at 12:07 a.m. local time on Oct. 29, 2026 (3:07 p.m. UTC on Oct. 28, 2026), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said. The quake was centered about 41 kilometers below the surface.

Thirty-one people submitted felt reports to USGS's Did You Feel It survey, giving the quake a community intensity of 3.8 on the same intensity scale ShakeMap uses below. USGS's ShakeMap rates the strongest computed shaking at intensity V, moderate, in a zone of about 116,000 people. A wider area of about 22.7 million people felt intensity IV, light shaking, and about 1.51 million felt intensity III, weak shaking.

The region's last comparable earthquake was a magnitude 6.6 quake near Niigata, Japan, about 244 kilometers away, USGS said. It struck on Oct. 23, 2004, exposing an estimated 347,000 people to intensity VIII, severe, shaking and 76,000 to intensity IX or greater, violent, shaking, and causing a reported 48 fatalities.

USGS's loss-estimate model expects no fatalities and less than $1 million in damage, and says there is a low likelihood of casualties and damage. Most structures in the area can resist earthquake shaking, though vulnerable buildings exist, mainly heavy wood-frame and reinforced or confined masonry construction.