Mw 6.3 Shikoku, Japan

On 21 January 2022 a strong earthquake occurred at Shikoku, Japan at a depth of 42 km. The seismic event occurred at 16:08:37 UTC and had an estimated moment magnitude (Mw) 6.3.

The earthquake occurred after the Moon lined up with Saturn and Jupiter on the 19th and 20th respectively. Stronger seismic activity was anticipated for 21-22 January because of this lunar geometry.

Moon-Earth-Saturn         2022-01-19,  6:48:29  313°40'36"
Moon-Earth-Jupiter        2022-01-20, 22:29:52  334°24'58"
Moon-Earth-Neptune        2022-01-22,  5:15:03  350°50'48"
					

SSGI depiction of planetary (PG) and lunar (LG) geometry