Earthquake under Northern Miyagi Prefecture on May 27

On May 27, 2005, at 17:07 (JST) there was a M4.9 earthquake at a depth of 109km under northern Miyagi prefecture (maximum seismic intensity 3). The focal mechanism had a compression axis in the direction of the subducting plate. This event occurred within the Pacific plate. There were four aftershocks of less than M2.0 observed by May 28.
It was the first time that an earthquake of over M4.0 occurred in this vicinity since October 1997. (Figure A)

For the seismic activity since August 1923, within the Pacific plate in the region around the recent event, there was a M6.4 earthquake on August 18, 1944. For recent M5 class events, there was a M5.6 earthquake on January 22, 1992. (Figure B)

Japan Meteorological Agency