[2][3] The northwestern side of Honshu lies on the southeastern margin of the Sea of Japan, an area of oceanic crust created by back-arc spreading from the late Oligocene to middle Miocene.

The crust in this area is subjected to east–west compression associated with the convergent boundary between the Amur Plate and the Okhotsk microplate[A].

As a result of this strain, the north–south trending extensional faults are reactivated in a reverse sense.

[9] The earthquake damaged a total of 149 homes in Akita, Niigata, and Yamagata prefectures.

[12] Tohoku Electric Power announced that a blackout occurred in parts of Yamagata and Niigata prefectures because of the earthquake, with 1000 customers impacted in Tsuruoka and 200 customers impacted in Sakata.