The 1993 southwest-off Hokkaido earthquake (北海道南西沖地震 Hokkaidō Nansei Oki Jishin) occurred at 13:17:12 UTC on 12 July 1993 in the Sea of Japan near the island of Hokkaido.[1] It had a magnitude of 7.7 on the moment magnitude scale and a maximum felt intensity of VIII (Destructive) on the Mercalli intensity scale. It triggered a major tsunami that caused deaths on Hokkaidō and in southeastern Russia, with a total of 230 fatalities recorded. The island of Okushiri was hardest hit, with 165 casualties from the earthquake, the tsunami and a large landslide.[2]