The Ansei great earthquakes (安政の大地震, ''Ansei no Dai Jishin'') were a series of major earthquakes that struck

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 ...

during the

Ansei was a after ''Kaei'' and before ''Man'en''. This period spanned the years from November 1854 through March 1860. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * November 27, 1854 (): The new era name of ''Ansei'' (meaning "tranquil government") ...

era (1854–1860): * The Ansei Tōkai quake ( ja, 安政東海地震, Ansei Tōkai Jishin, label=none) was an 8.4 magnitude earthquake which struck on December 23, 1854. The

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 ...

ranged from Suruga Bay to the deep ocean, and struck primarily in the

Tōkai region The is a subregion of the Chūbu region and Kansai region in Japan that runs along the Pacific Ocean. The name comes from the Tōkaidō, one of the Edo Five Routes. Because Tōkai is a sub-region and is not officially classified, there i ...

, but destroyed houses as far away as in Edo. The subsequent

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 ...

caused damage along the entire coast from the

Bōsō Peninsula The is a peninsula that encompasses the entirety of Chiba Prefecture on Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It is part of the Greater Tokyo Area. It forms the eastern edge of Tokyo Bay, separating it from the Pacific Ocean. The peninsula covers ...

in modern-day

Chiba prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to the ...

Tosa province was a province of Japan in the area of southern Shikoku. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tosa''" in . Tosa bordered on Awa to the northeast, and Iyo to the northwest. Its abbreviated form name was . In terms of the Gokishichidō syste ...

(modern-day

Kōchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kōchi Prefecture has a population of 757,914 (1 December 2011) and has a geographic area of 7,103 km2 (2,742 sq mi). Kōchi Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the northwest and ...

)_____. (2007). in , p. 253. * The Ansei Nankai quake ( ja, 安政南海地震, Ansei Nankai Jishin, label=none) was an 8.4 magnitude earthquake which struck on December 24, 1854. Over 10,000 people from the Tōkai region down to Kyushu were killed. * The ( ja, 豊予海峡地震, Hōyo Kaikyō Jishin, label=none) was an M7.4 intra-plate earthquake in

Hōyo Strait The is the strait at the narrowest part of the Bungo Channel in 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 ...

affecting Kyushu and Shikoku on December 26, 1854. It affected nearby area more than the two megathrust earthquake that happened in the previous few days.宇佐美龍夫『最新版日本被害地震総覧』東京大学出版会、2003年安芸灘～伊予灘～豊後水道のプレート内地震
地震調査研究推進本部
/ref> * The Ansei Edo quake ( ja, 安政江戸地震, Ansei Edo Jishin, label=none) was a M_s 7.0 earthquake which struck Edo (modern-day Tokyo) on November 11, 1855. ~120 earthquakes and tremors in total were felt in Edo in 1854-55. The great earthquake struck after 10 p.m.; roughly 30 aftershocks continued until dawn. The epicenter was near the mouth of the

Arakawa River or Ara River may refer to: * Arakawa River (Kanto) or Ara River may refer to: * Arakawa River (Kanto), which flows from Saitama Prefecture and through Tokyo to Tokyo Bay * Arakawa River (Uetsu), which flows from Yamagata Prefecture and throu ...

. Records from the time indicate 6,641 deaths inside the city, and 2,759 injuries; much of the city was destroyed by fire, leading many people to stay in rural inns. Aftershocks continued for ~20. This quake was a particularly destructive deep thrust quake caused by a giant slab of rock stuck between the

Philippine Sea Plate The Philippine Sea Plate or the Philippine Plate is a tectonic plate comprising oceanic lithosphere that lies beneath the Philippine Sea, to the east of the Philippines. Most segments of the Philippines, including northern Luzon, are part o ...

and 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 ...

. The earthquakes were blamed on a giant catfish ('' Namazu'') thrashing about.

Ukiyo-e Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surfac ...

prints depicting ''namazu'' became very popular around this time.

Other notable quakes

1854 Iga-Ueno earthquake, one which registered 7.4 on the

Richter scale The Richter scale —also called the Richter magnitude scale, Richter's magnitude scale, and the Gutenberg–Richter scale—is a measure of the strength of earthquakes, developed by Charles Francis Richter and presented in his landmark 1935 ...

and struck 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 metropolita ...

. An was estimated to be a megathrust earthquake with Magnitude 7-8, with tsunami recorded, however damage was relatively few. The 1858 Hietsu earthquake struck

Hida Province was a province of Japan in the area that is today the northern portion of Gifu Prefecture in the Chūbu region of Japan. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Wakasa''" in . Hida bordered on Echizen, Mino, Shinano, Etchū, and Kaga Provin ...

(modern-day

Gifu Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,991,390 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture to the northwest, F ...

) on April 9, 1858.

Notes

References

* * {{Authority control 1850s in Japan Tsunamis in Japan 1854 earthquakes 1855 earthquakes 1854 tsunamis 1855 tsunamis Bakumatsu Earthquake clusters, swarms, and sequences Earthquakes of the Edo period

Other notable quakes

See also

Notes

References