Earthquakes M5.5+ around Japan (1900–2016) M7.0–7.9=163 EQs, M8.0+=14 EQs.
This is a list of earthquakes in Japan with either a magnitude greater than or equal to 7.0 or which caused significant damage or casualties. As indicated below, magnitude is measured on the Richter magnitude scale (ML) or the moment magnitude scale (Mw), or the surface wave magnitude scale (Ms) for very old earthquakes. The present list is not exhaustive, and furthermore reliable and precise magnitude data is scarce for earthquakes that occurred before the development of modern measuring instruments.
Although there is mention of an earthquake in Yamato in what is now Nara Prefecture on August 23, 416, the first earthquake to be reliably documented took place in Nara prefecture on May 28, 599 during the reign of Empress Suiko, destroying buildings throughout Yamato province.[2][3][4] Many historical records of Japanese earthquakes exist. The Imperial Earthquake Investigation Committee was created in 1892 to conduct a systematic collation of the available historical data, published in 1899 as the Catalogue of Historical Data on Japanese Earthquakes.[4]
Following the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, the Imperial Earthquake Investigation Committee was superseded by the Earthquake Research Institute in 1925.[3] In modern times, the catalogues compiled by Tatsuo Usami are considered to provide the most authoritative source of information on historic earthquakes, with the 2003 edition detailing 486 that took place between 416 and 1888.[3]
Earthquake measurement
In Japan, the Shindo scale is commonly used to measure earthquakes by seismic intensity instead of magnitude. This is similar to the Modified Mercalli intensity scale used in the United States or the Liedu scale used in China, meaning that the scale measures the intensity of an earthquake at a given location instead of measuring the energy an earthquake releases at its epicenter (its magnitude) as the Richter scale does.[5]
Unlike other seismic intensity scales, which normally have twelve levels of intensity, shindo (震度, seismic intensity, literally "degree of shaking") as used by the Japan Meteorological Agency is a unit with ten levels, ranging from shindo zero, a very light tremor, to shindo seven, a severe earthquake.[5] Intermediate levels for earthquakes with shindo five and six are "weak" or "strong", according to the degree of destruction they cause. Earthquakes measured at shindo four and lower are considered to be weak to mild, while those measured at five and above can cause heavy damage to furniture, wall tiles, wooden houses, reinforced concrete buildings, roads, gas and water pipes.[5]
Various references estimate the quake's magnitude at 8.0 to 8.4, with damage being "severe". The dates of the quake have also been listed variously as October 14 (incorrect date) and November 24.[7] It was at this point in time that the Japanese confirmed the link between earthquakes and tsunamis, and began keeping detailed records of them. Their tsunami records are studied by geologists to this day.[citation needed]
The earthquake struck close to the city of Kamakura, Kanagawa and its magnitude has been estimated in the 7.1–7.5 range.[12] It possibly triggered a tsunami (though not all experts agree)[13][14] and the death toll has been reported as 23,024.[11]
Occurred off the coast of Nankai, Japan, at about 08:00 local time on 20 September 1498. It had a magnitude estimated at 8.6[17] MS and triggered a large tsunami. The death toll associated with this event is uncertain, but 31,000 casualties were reported.[18]
The 1605 Keichō Nankaidō earthquake occurred at about 20:00 local time on 3 February. It had an estimated magnitude of 7.9 on the surface wave magnitude scale and triggered a devastating tsunami that resulted in thousands of deaths in the Nankai and Tōkai regions of Japan. It is uncertain whether there were two separate earthquakes separated by a short time interval or a single event. It is referred to as a tsunami earthquake, in that the size of the tsunami greatly exceeds that expected from the magnitude of the earthquake.[22]
According to official estimated report, more than 3,700 human fatalities. Aizuwakamatsu Castle, many temples, and 20,000 houses collapsed in the damaged areas.
This earthquake was felt with low intensity, but generated a large tsunami that killed 569 people. It is thought to have ruptured the interface between the Pacific Plate and the Okhotsk Plate at the southern end of the Japan Trench.[29]
Struck both the Nankaidō and Tōkai regions, causing moderate to severe damage throughout southwestern Honshu, Shikoku and southeastern Kyūshū.[30] This event also marked the last eruption of Mount Fuji to date.
The 1771 Great Yaeyama Tsunami (also called 明和の大津波, the Great Tsunami of Meiwa) was caused by the Yaeyama Great Earthquake at about 8 A.M. on April 24. 13,486 people (including 9,313 in Yaeyama Islands (8,815 in Ishigaki Island), 2,548 in Miyako Islands and 1,625 in other areas) were confirmed to be dead or missing and more than 3,000 houses were destroyed.[31] The height of the tsunami was over 40m (130ft) at Ishigaki Island, up to a maximum of 85.4m (280ft) in the village called Miyara. In Tarama, estimated tsunami runup height was approximately 18m (59ft). To this day, boulders reportedly launched by the tsunami (called "tsunami stones") remain in the northwestern highlands of Miyakojima. According to unverified local legend, a small unnamed island in the area was swallowed by the tsunami and disappeared.
Changes to the Ariake Sea coastline, in the center of Mount Unzen, Kumamoto Prefecture (right) and the Amakusa Islands (see below) were affected by the tsunami An earthquake caused by volcanic activity of Mount Unzen (in the Shimabara Peninsula Nagasaki, Japan). It killed 15,000 people altogether, due in large part to a tsunami that was triggered by the collapse of nearby Mount Mayuyama's southern flank into the bay. The incident is also referred to with the phrase 'Shimabara erupted, Higo affected' (島原大変肥後迷惑), as many people in Higo, (Kumamoto, located 20km (12mi) away across the Ariake Sea) were also killed by the resulting tsunami, which then bounced back to hit Shimabara again.[32]
According to the official confirmed report, 21,134 houses and buildings were damaged, and 1,204 of them burned down. There were 1,559 human fatalities, and 2,666 injured people in the affected area.
In the central area of Nagano, many buildings collapsed, including Zenkōji temple. The earthquake triggered a complex variety of resulting disasters, which included fires, landslides, and flooding due to the formation and subsequent collapse of a "dam" made of debris from the collapsed buildings. According to the confirmed official report, the death toll throughout the region reached at least 8,600. 21,000 houses were damaged and 3,400 burned, and an additional 44,000 homes were damaged by the landslides in the area.
According to the official confirmed report, 4506 houses were damaged by the earthquake, 230 houses were burned, 551 people were killed, and landslides destroyed 6567 homes in the affected area. This quake occurred at 16:40 local time.
According to the official confirmed report, 14,118 houses and buildings were damaged and 2,148 were burned. There were 726 human fatalities and 8,403 people injured in the damaged area. A large-scale fire broke out in Sakata, and around the Shonai plain area, many instances of cracked earth, sinking ground, sand boils, and fountains were observed.
This quake occurred off the coast of Sanriku in Iwate Prefecture, which caused a tsunami of 25m (82ft) to strike 35 minutes after the quake, destroying hundreds of houses and killed over 22,000 people. Tsunami were also observed as far away as Hawaii and in California.[37][38]
According to the Japanese government's official report, there were 428 human fatalities, 1,016 people injured, 7,863 buildings destroyed, and 45,659 houses damaged by collapse or fire. This quake caused extensive damage to the town of Toyooka and the Maruyama River area. Just before the shaking could be felt, a sound like a cannon was reportedly heard intermittently from the direction of the estuary near the Maruyama River. During the earthquake, the ground in the town of Tokyooka experienced strong seismic vibrations for 16 seconds. As most of the buildings of the time were wooden, many of them were destroyed at once during the initial earthquake. In the fire that broke out subsequently, half of Toyooka was burned down, with many deaths resulting (a reported 8% of the town's population.) 272 deaths were confirmed to have occurred in the Kinosaki area.
This earthquake occurred on Dec. 7, 1944, at 13:35 local time (04:35 UTC). Its moment magnitude was 8.1 and it was felt with a maximum intensity of 5 on the Shindo scale (or VII, "Severe", on the Mercalli intensity scale). It struck the provinces along the coast of the Tōkai region, causing serious damage and triggering a tsunami. The earthquake and tsunami combined killed 1,223 people, with injuries reported to have affected 20,000 people or more.[42]
The 1952 Hokkaido earthquake took place around March 4, 1952 in the sea east of Hokkaido. On the Moment magnitude scale, it measured 8.1. Casualties occurred due to the earthquake.[45]
The earthquake caused widespread soil liquefaction in the city of Niigata, resulting in unusually high levels of damage to buildings for the felt intensity.[48]
This earthquake struck off the coast of Honshu Island, near Misawa Japan, Aomori Prefecture, and was followed by a significant tsunami. The earthquake and ensuing tsunami claimed 52 lives and resulted in significant material damage in Northern Japan.[50][51]
Rising up to 9.1m (30ft) above the coastline, the tsunami created by this earthquake was observed throughout a wide area along the Sea of Japan's coast and caused damage from Tsuruoka to Goshogawara. 100 people lost their lives to the tsunami, including seawall construction workers and beachgoers. In total, 104 people were killed. Soil liquification was widely observed through the affected area.
Damage in Kobe An earthquake in Japan that occurred on Tuesday January 17, 1995 at 05:46 JST in the southern part of Hyōgo Prefecture. It measured Mw 6.8 on the Moment magnitude scale (USGS),[56] and Mj7.3 on the revised (7.2 on the old) JMA magnitude scale.[57] The tremors lasted for approximately 20 seconds. The hypocenter of the earthquake was located 16km (9.9mi) beneath its epicenter,[57] on the northern end of Awaji Island, 20km (12mi) away from the city of Kobe.
An earthquake occurring in Hokkaido on September 25, 2003. It measured 8.3 on the Moment magnitude scale and caused extensive damage to roads all around Hokkaido, several power outages, and landslides which resulted in further damage.[59]
Occurred at 5:56p.m. (local time) on Saturday, October 23, 2004. The initial earthquake caused noticeable shaking across almost half of Honshū, including parts of the Tohoku, Hokuriku, Chūbu, and Kantō regions.
The earthquake happened at 1:23p.m. JST (04:23 UTC) and resulted in a tsunami warning but did not cause significant damage.[60] The epicentre was located 95km to the south east of the 2006 Kuril Islands earthquake that struck a few weeks earlier.
Niigata Prefectureabout 29km (18mi) west of Niigata
The earthquake[61]) was a powerful magnitude 6.6 earthquake[62][63] that occurred 10:13a.m. local time (01:13 UTC) on July 16, 2007, in the northwest Niigata region of Japan.[62] Eleven deaths and at least 1,000 injuries have been reported, and 342 buildings were completely destroyed, mostly older wooden structures.[62][64][65]
The earthquake injured 41 people and affected the entire Chubu region. The quake also generated many surface ruptures, mostly near Hakuba Village.[83][84]
Earthquakes are caused by movements within the Earth's crust and uppermost mantle. They range from events too weak to be detectable except by sensitive instrumentation, to sudden and violent events lasting many minutes which have caused some of the greatest disasters in human history. Below, earthquakes are listed by period, region or country, year, magnitude, cost, fatalities and number of scientific studies.
The 1703 Genroku earthquake occurred at 02:00 local time on December 31. The epicenter was near Edo, the forerunner of present-day Tokyo, in the southern part of the Kantō region, Japan. An estimated 2,300 people were killed by the shaking and subsequent fires. The earthquake triggered a major tsunami which caused many additional casualties, giving a total death toll of at least 5,233, possibly up to 10,000. Genroku is a Japanese era spanning from 1688 through 1704.
The 1946 Nankai earthquake was a great earthquake in Nankaidō, Japan. It occurred on December 21, 1946, at 04:19 JST. The earthquake measured between 8.1 and 8.4 on the moment magnitude scale, and was felt from Northern Honshū to Kyūshū. It occurred almost two years after the 1944 Tōnankai earthquake, which ruptured the adjacent part of the Nankai megathrust.
The 1948 Fukui earthquake occurred in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. The magnitude 6.8 quake struck at 4:13:31 p.m.(JDT) on June 28, 1948. The quake's hypocenter was approximately 10 km north-northeast of Fukui, in the present-day neighborhood of Maruoka, Sakai City. The strongest shaking occurred in the city of Fukui, where it was recorded as 6 on the Japan Meteorological Agency seismic intensity scale.
This list of 20th-century earthquakes is a list of earthquakes of magnitude 6 and above that occurred in the 20th century. Sone smaller events which nevertheless had a significant impact are also included. After 1900 most earthquakes have some degree of instrumental records and this means that the locations and magnitudes are more reliable than for earlier events.
The 1730 Valparaíso earthquake occurred at 04:45 local time on July 8. It had an estimated magnitude of 9.1–9.3 and triggered a major tsunami with an estimated magnitude of Mt 8.75, that inundated the lower parts of Valparaíso. The earthquake caused severe damage from La Serena to Chillan, while the tsunami affected more than 1,000 km (620 mi) of Chile's coastline.
The 1498 Meiō earthquake occurred off the coast of Nankaidō, Japan, at about 08:00 local time on 20 September 1498. It had a magnitude estimated at 8.6 Ms and triggered a large tsunami. The death toll associated with this event is uncertain, but between 5,000 and 41,000 casualties were reported. The tsunami caused by the Meiō Nankaidō earthquake washed away the building housing the statue of the Great Buddha at Kōtoku-in in Kamakura, although the statue itself remained intact.
The 1293 Kamakura earthquake in Japan occurred at about 06:00 local time on 27 May 1293. It had an estimated magnitude of 7.1–7.5 and triggered a tsunami. The estimated death toll was 23,024. It occurred during the Kamakura period, and the city of Kamakura was seriously damaged.
The 1944 Tōnankai earthquake occurred at 13:35 local time on 7 December. It had an estimated magnitude of 8.1 on the moment magnitude scale and a maximum felt intensity of greater than 5 Shindo. It triggered a large tsunami that caused serious damage along the coast of Wakayama Prefecture and the Tōkai region. Together, the earthquake and tsunami caused 3,358 casualties.
The 1611 Sanriku earthquake occurred on December 2, 1611, with an epicenter off the Sanriku coast in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. The magnitude of the earthquake was 8.1Ms. It triggered a devastating tsunami. A description of this event in an official diary from 1612 is probably the first recorded use of the term 'tsunami'.
During April 1819, the area around Copiapó in northern Chile was struck by a sequence of earthquakes over a period of several days. The largest of these earthquakes occurred on 11 April at about 15:00 local time, with an estimated magnitude of Mw 8.5. The other two events, on 3 April between 08:00 and 09:00 local time and on 4 April at 16:00 local time, are interpreted as foreshocks to the mainshock on 11 April. The mainshock triggered a tsunami that affected 800 km of coastline and was also recorded at Hawaii. The city of Copiapó was devastated.
The eastern margin of the Sea of Japan is a zone of concentrated geological strain which extends several hundred kilometers and north–south along the eastern margin of the Sea of Japan. The margin has undergone convergence tectonics since the end of the Pliocene. It is believed to be an incipient subduction zone which defines the tectonic boundary between the Amurian and Okhotsk plates. This geological zone is seismically active and has been the source of destructive tsunamis. The feature runs off the west coast of Honshu, passes west of the Shakotan Peninsula on Hokkaido and through the Strait of Tartary, between Sakhalin and mainland Russia.
1 2 Tatsuo Usami "Historical earthquakes in Japan", In: William H.K. Lee, Hiroo Kanamori, Paul C. Jennings and Carl Kisslinger, (Eds.), International Geophysics, Academic Press, 2002, Volume 81, Part 1, International Handbook of Earthquake and Engineering Seismology, pp. 799–802, ISSN 0074-6142, ISBN978-0-12-440652-0, doi:10.1016/S0074-6142(02)80254-6
↑ Kawasumi, H., 1951, Measures of earthquakes danger and expectancy of maximum intensity throughout Japan as inferred from the seismic activity in historical times, Bull. Earthq. Res. Inst., Univ. Tokyo, 29, pp.469–482
↑ National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): NCEI/WDS Global Significant Earthquake Database. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. (1972). "Significant Earthquake Information". NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K. Archived from the original on January 26, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
↑ National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): NCEI/WDS Global Significant Earthquake Database. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. (1972). "Significant Earthquake Information". NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K. Archived from the original on January 26, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
↑ Satake, K; Sawai, Y.; Shishikura, M.; Okamura, Y.; Namegaya, Y.; Yamaki, S (2007). "Tsunami source of the unusual AD 869 earthquake off Miyagi, Japan, inferred from tsunami deposits and numerical simulation of inundation". American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2007, Abstract #T31G-03. 2007: T31G–03. Bibcode:2007AGUFM.T31G..03S.
1 2 National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): NCEI/WDS Global Significant Earthquake Database. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. (1972). "Significant Earthquake Information". NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
↑ IISEE. "Search parameters page". Catalog of Damaging Earthquakes in the World (from ancient times through June, 2009). Retrieved 31 October 2010.
↑ HIGAI. "日本被害地震年表：before1600"[Japan Damage Earthquake Chronology: before1600]. Seismological Society of Japan (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2007-08-22.
1 2 National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): NCEI/WDS Global Significant Earthquake Database. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (1972). "Significant Earthquake Information". NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K.
1 2 National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): NCEI/WDS Global Significant Earthquake Database. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (1972). "Significant Earthquake Information". NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K.
1 2 National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): NCEI/WDS Global Significant Earthquake Database. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (1972). "Significant Earthquake Information". NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K.
↑ National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): NCEI/WDS Global Significant Earthquake Database. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (1972). "Significant Earthquake Information". NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K.
↑ Kawasumi, H. (1968). "1. Introduction"(PDF). In Kawasumi H. (ed.). General Report on the Niigata Earthquake of 1964. Tokyo, Japan: Tokyo Electrical Engineering College Press.
↑ "千葉県東方沖地震". typhoon.yahoo.co.jp. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
↑ National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): NCEI/WDS Global Significant Earthquake Database. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (1972). "Significant Earthquake Information". NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K.
1 2 The City of Kobe (2008-01-01). "Statistics"(PDF). The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake: Statistics and Restoration Progress. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2008-05-27. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
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