The occurred near the city of

Kamaishi is a city located on the Sanriku rias coast in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 32,609, and a population density of 74 persons per km2, in 16,230 households. The total area of the city is Geography Kamaishi is ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, on December 7 at 17:18 JST. The magnitude 7.3 shock generated a small

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) 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 other underwater explo ...

, with waves up to 1 m high, that hit

Ishinomaki is a city located in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 138,538, and a population density of 250 persons per km2 in 61,919 households. The total area of the city is . Geography Ishinomaki is in northeastern Miya ...

Miyagi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,305,596 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefecture to the nort ...

. It occurred at a depth of 36 km within the

Pacific Plate The Pacific Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate that lies beneath the Pacific Ocean. At , it is the largest tectonic plate. The plate first came into existence 190 million years ago, at the triple junction between the Farallon, Phoenix, and Iza ...

and was the result of reverse faulting, about east of the

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 t ...

Damage

Tsunami

The tsunami caused a mountain of sandbags to collapse in

. An old man went missing and was found dead on December 14 after he sailed out to sea to try to evacuate from the tsunami in

Kuji is a Japanese city in Iwate Prefecture. , the city had an estimated population of 34,418 in 15,675 households, and a population density of 55 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Kuji is in far northeastern Iwate Prefect ...

Shaking

Some pipeworks were damaged in an old people's facility in Saitama. Some boards in a roof of an elementary school in Ichikai shifted. An elderly lady died of

shock Shock may refer to: Common uses Collective noun *Shock, a historic commercial term for a group of 60, see English numerals#Special names * Stook, or shock of grain, stacked sheaves Healthcare * Shock (circulatory), circulatory medical emerge ...

at her home in

Marumori is a towns of Japan, town located in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 13,092, and a population density of 48 persons per km² in 5,050 households. The total area of the town is . Geography Marumori is located ...

, and a man died of shock after trying to evacuate from where he was working in Iitate, causing a total of 3 deaths. This earthquake also caused 14 injuries.

Previous earthquakes in Kamaishi

In 2001 and 2008, there were a series of micro earthquakes that could have started the tectonic plate movement that triggered the 2012 Kamaishi earthquake. These small series of earthquakes were a magnitude of about 3–4.9. According to studies, the shocks moved from the outer and deeper limits into the mainshock

epicenter The epicenter, epicentre () or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates. Surface damage Before the instrumental pe ...

. These small earthquakes were a precursor that began the tectonic movement for the 2012 earthquake.

References

External links