The struck Japan on September 5, 1596. The earthquake measuring 7.5 ± 0.25 produced intense shaking (evaluated at '' Shindo 6'') across the

Kansai region The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropol ...

. Devastation was recorded in Kyoto and over 1,200 people perished.

Tectonic setting

The island of Honshu is situated in a region of complex plate

convergence Convergence may refer to: Arts and media Literature *''Convergence'' (book series), edited by Ruth Nanda Anshen *Convergence (comics), "Convergence" (comics), two separate story lines published by DC Comics: **A four-part crossover storyline that ...

between the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

, Amurian,

Philippine Sea The Philippine Sea is a List of seas#Marginal seas by ocean, marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean, Western Pacific Ocean east of the list of islands of the Philippines, Philippine Archipelago (hence the name) and the List of seas#Largest seas ...

and Okhotsk plates. While a large component of the convergence is accommodated by

subduction Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere and some continental lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at the convergent boundaries between tectonic plates. Where one tectonic plate converges with a second p ...

along the Nankai and

Japan Trench The Japan Trench is an oceanic trench part of the Pacific Ring of Fire off northeast Japan. It extends from the Kuril Islands to the northern end of the Izu Islands, and is at its deepest. It links the Kuril–Kamchatka Trench to the north and ...

es, shallow

intraplate deformation Intraplate deformation is the folding, breaking, or flow of the Earth's crust within plates instead of at their margins. This process usually occurs in areas with especially weak crust and upper mantle (Earth), upper mantle, such as the Tibetan Pl ...

occurs as well. Due to the ongoing

oblique subduction Oblique subduction is a form of subduction (i.e. a tectonic process involving the convergence of two Tectonic plate, plates where the denser plate descends into Earth's interior) for which the convergence direction differs from 90° to the plate b ...

of the Philippine Sea plate, right-lateral strike-slip deformation occurs in Japan. The

Japan Median Tectonic Line , also Median Tectonic Line (MTL), is Japan's longest Fault (geology), fault system. The MTL begins near Ibaraki Prefecture, where it connects with the Itoigawa-Shizuoka Tectonic Line (ISTL) and the Fossa Magna. It runs parallel to Japan's volcan ...

(MTL) and

Itoigawa-Shizuoka Tectonic Line , also Ito Shizu Sen (糸静線) is a major fault zone on Honshu island running from Itoigawa, Niigata Prefecture, through Lake Suwa, and on to Shizuoka in Shizuoka Prefecture. It is often confused with the Fossa Magna ("great rift"), a geol ...

are two major fault zones that accommodate this deformation. These faults are associated with strike-slip and dip-slip faulting. The Japan MTL is among the longest and most active fault zones in Japan, and has a length of , running parallel to the Nankai Trough. The understanding of earthquakes along the Japan MTL is limited due to its very long seismic recurrence intervals of up to 3,000 years.

Impact

Extensive damage occurred in

Keihanshin is a metropolitan region in the Kansai region of Japan encompassing the metropolitan areas of the cities of Kyoto in Kyoto Prefecture, Osaka in Osaka Prefecture and Kobe in Hyōgo Prefecture. The entire region has a population () of 19,302,746 ov ...

and on Awaji Island. More than 1,000 people died in Kyoto and Sakai—the

Fushimi Castle , also known as or Fushimi-Momoyama Castle, is a Japanese castle located in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Fushimi Ward, Kyoto. Fushimi Castle was constructed from 1592 to 1594 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi at the end of the Sengoku period as his retirement residen ...

in Kyoto which was under construction collapsed, killing 600 people. In Sakai, an additional 600 died. Temples including the

Tō-ji , also known as is a Shingon Buddhist temple in the Minami-ku, Kyoto, Minami-ku ward of Kyoto, Japan. Founded in 796, Tō-ji Temple was one of the only three Buddhist temples allowed in the city at the time it became the capital of Japan. As s ...

Tenryū-ji , formally known as , is the head temple of the Tenryū-ji branch of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism, located in Susukinobaba-chō, Ukyō Ward, Kyoto, Japan. The temple was founded by Ashikaga Takauji in 1339, primarily to venerate Gautama Bud ...

Nison-in is a Tendai Buddhist temple complex in Ukyō-ku, Kyoto, Ukyō-ku, a western Ward (country subdivision), ward in the city of Kyoto, Japan. The temple's official name is . The temple is a popular destination during the Japanese maple viewing seas ...

Daikaku-ji is a Shingon Buddhist temple in Ukyō-ku, a western ward in the city of Kyoto, Japan. The site was originally a residence of Emperor Saga (785–842 CE), and later various emperors conducted their cloistered rule from here. The ''Saga Go-r ...

, Hōkō-ji were destroyed. Newly constructed, the

was destroyed. Ruins of the castle including its stone foundation and other artefacts were excavated near

Momoyama Station is a railway station located in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). It has the station number "JR-D05". Lines Momoyama Station is served by the Nara Line. Layout The station has one i ...

. The earthquake was felt intensely in

Takamatsu file:Takamatsu City Hall.jpg, 270px, Takamatsu City Hall file:Takamatsu city center area Aerial photograph.2007.jpg, 270px, Aerial view of Takamatsu city center file:Takamatsu200910cut.JPG, 270px, View from Yashima to Takashima port is a capital ...

. Evidence for

liquefaction In materials science, liquefaction is a process that generates a liquid from a solid or a gas or that generates a non-liquid phase which behaves in accordance with fluid dynamics. It occurs both naturally and artificially. As an example of t ...

was uncovered in

Yawata 270px, Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū 270px, Confluence of Kizu and Yodo Rivers is a city located in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 69,306 in 33972 households and a population density of 2800 persons per km2. The to ...

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

and

Amagasaki 270px, Amagasaki Castle 270px, Aerial view of Amagasaki city center 270px, Amagasaki Station is an industrial city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 455,555 in 223,812 households, and a population de ...

Landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...

s were triggered at

Imashirozuka Kofun file:Imasirotuka-museum-02.jpg, Haniwa found at Imashirozuka Kofun is a Kofun period Zenpokoenfun, keyhole-shaped burial mound, located in the Gungeshinmachi neighborhood of the city of Takatsuki, Osaka in the Kinai region of Japan. The tumulus ...

Takatsuki 270px, Takatsuki City Hall is a city in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 348,020 in 164,494 households and a population density of 3.300 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Takatsuki is ...

and

Nada-ku, Kobe is one of nine wards of Japan, wards of Kobe, Japan. It has an area of 31.4 km², and a population of 129,095 (2008). A leading national university, Kobe University, is located in this ward, as is the city's Oji Zoo. The Tadao Ando-design ...

. The ''

Daibutsu or 'giant Buddha' is the Japanese language, Japanese term, often used informally, for large Japanese sculpture, statues of List of Buddhas, Buddha. The oldest is that at Asuka-dera (609) and the best-known is that at Tōdai-ji in Nara, Nara, N ...

'', a Buddha statue at Hōkō-ji was heavily damaged—in an account by a priest at

Daigo-ji is a Shingon Buddhist temple in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan. Its main devotion (''honzon'') is Yakushi. ''Daigo'', literally "ghee", is used figuratively to mean " crème de la crème" and is a metaphor of the most profound part of Buddhist tho ...

, its chest collapsed initially followed by both hands. Cracks appeared all over the statue. The damaged statue angered

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...

, who later shot an arrow into its face. Historians believed Hideyoshi used the Great Buddha to display power rather than for worship. The statue remained in ruins until 1597 when it was ordered to be demolished. Hideyoshi's successor,

Toyotomi Hideyori was the son and designated successor of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the general who united all of Japan toward the end of the Sengoku period. His mother, Yodo-dono, was the niece of Oda Nobunaga. Early life Born in 1593, he was Hideyoshi's sec ...

, reconstructed the ''Daibutsu'' after his death.

Geology

The event was the third of three destructive earthquakes occurring five days apart across the Japan MTL. The region was also previously devastated by the

1586 Tenshō earthquake The occurred in Japan on January 18, 1586, at 23:00 Japan Standard Time, local time. This earthquake had an estimated Seismic magnitude scales, seismic magnitude () of 7.9, and an epicenter in Honshu's Chūbu region. It caused an estimated 8,000 ...

. The first earthquake ( Keichō–Iyo earthquake), occurred on September 1. It ruptured the Japan MTL at the western Shikoku area. It was followed by the Keichō-Bungo earthquake on either September 1 or 4 which affected

Beppu Bay is an arm of the western end of the Seto Inland Sea of Japan. Beppu Bay is located on the northeast coast of Kyushu in Ōita Prefecture. The city of Ōita, Ōita, Ōita lies on its southern coast and the city of Beppu, Ōita, Beppu at its west ...

. The Keichō–Iyo earthquake was inferred to have occurred when the Kawakami and Iyo faults ruptured. Due to historical discrepancies, the two dates were proposed for the occurrence of the Keichō-Bungo earthquake. This earthquake was caused by faults around Beppu Bay rupturing.

Tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

s were reported. These earthquakes triggered by

coulomb stress transfer Coulomb stress transfer is a Seismology, seismic-related geology, geological process of Stress (mechanics), stress changes to surrounding material caused by local discrete deformation events. Using mapped displacements of the Earth's surface during ...

within a short timespan is similar to the 1939–1999 earthquake sequence along the

North Anatolian Fault The North Anatolian Fault (NAF; ) is an active right-lateral strike-slip fault in northern Anatolia, and is the transform boundary between the Eurasian plate and the Anatolian sub-plate. The fault extends westward from a junction with the Ea ...

Paleoseismological Paleoseismology is the study of ancient Earthquake, earthquakes using geologic evidence, such as geologic Sediment, sediments and Rock (geology), rocks. It is used to supplement Seismology, seismic monitoring to calculate seismic hazard. Paleose ...

studies on the Japan MTL and Arima–Takatsuki–Rokko–Awaji Fault (ATRAF) began after the

Great Hanshin earthquake The Great Hanshin Earthquake (, ) occurred on January 17, 1995, at 05:46:53 JST in the southern part of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, including the region of Hanshin. It measured 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale and had a maximum intensity of 7 o ...

of 1995. Paleoseismic earthquakes were discovered after these studies. Radiocarbon dating of these events corresponded to pre-1660 BC, 1660 BC ± 220 AD, 30 ± 220 AD to 600 AD and

16th century The 16th century began with the Julian calendar, Julian year 1501 (represented by the Roman numerals MDI) and ended with either the Julian or the Gregorian calendar, Gregorian year 1600 (MDC), depending on the reckoning used (the Gregorian calend ...

AD. These earthquakes produced an average right-lateral strike-slip displacement of . The most recent event corresponded to the 1596 rupture. A surface rupture associated with the earthquake was traced along the Gosukebashi Fault (northern segment of the ATRAF) at the eastern side of

Mount Rokkō is the name of a range of mountains in southeastern Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Outline There is no single mountain or peak called "Rokkō," although the highest peak of the mountains is called , (literally, ''the highest peak of the Rokkō ...

. Surface rupturing may also have occurred along the Higashiura and Nojima faults, southern segments of the ATRAF. Geological studies however, do not support the existence of a surface rupture along the Nojima Fault. Another paleoseismic event on the Gosukebashi Fault, dated between 30 ± 220 AD to 600 AD, corresponded to the 416 AD Yamato earthquake, the earliest historical earthquake in Japan. Further studies also suggest seismically active faults on Awaji Island, including the Naruto Fault, also ruptured during the same period. Segments of the Japan MTL on

Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...

may have also ruptured. Studies suggested that the fault segment last ruptured in the 16th century. Trenching uncovered that slip of up to was produced from the most recent event which may be associated with the Keicho–Fushimi earthquake. The Ikeda Fault, a segment of the Japan MTL on Shikoku caused of right-lateral and of vertical offset, respectively, which might have been produced during the event.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keichō-Fushimi earthquake, 1596 Keichō–Fushimi earthquake Keichō–Fushimi earthquake Keichō–Fushimi earthquake Keichō–Fushimi earthquake Earthquakes in Japan 1596 disasters

Tectonic setting

Impact

Geology

See also

References