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
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 ...
(''M
L'') or the
moment magnitude scale
The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mw, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. It was defined in a 1979 pape ...
(''M
w''), or the
surface wave magnitude scale (''M
s'') 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.
History
Although there is mention of an earthquake in
Yamato in what is now
Nara Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara Prefecture has a population of 1,321,805 and has a geographic area of . Nara Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Osaka Prefecture to the northwest, Wakayam ...
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
(554 – 15 April 628) was the 33rd monarch of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 推古天皇 (33)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession.
Suiko reigned from 593 until her death in 628.
In the history of Japa ...
, destroying buildings throughout
Yamato province
was a province of Japan, located in Kinai, corresponding to present-day Nara Prefecture in Honshū. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2005). "Yamato" in . It was also called . Yamato consists of two characters, 大 "great", and 和 " Wa". At first, th ...
.
[Hammer, Joshua. (2006). ''Yokohama Burning: The Deadly 1923 Earthquake and Fire that Helped Forge the Path to World War II,'' p. 62–63.][Ishibashi, K. (2004);]
Status of historical seismology in Japan
(30 pages); Earthquake catalogue 47 (2–3); Collections: 04.06.05. Historical seismology; Annals of Geophysics, accessed 2011-03-19
English summary
[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, , ] Many historical records of Japanese earthquakes exist, and 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''.
Following the
1923 Great Kantō earthquake, the Imperial Earthquake Investigation Committee was superseded by the
Earthquake Research Institute in 1925.
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.
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
The Modified Mercalli intensity scale (MM, MMI, or MCS), developed from Giuseppe Mercalli's Mercalli intensity scale of 1902, is a seismic intensity scale used for measuring the intensity of shaking produced by an earthquake. It measures the eff ...
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.
Unlike other seismic intensity scales, which normally have twelve levels of intensity, as used by the
Japan Meteorological Agency
The , abbreviated JMA, is an agency of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. It is charged with gathering and providing results for the public in Japan that are obtained from data based on daily scientific observation an ...
is a unit with ten levels, ranging from ''shindo'' zero, a very light tremor, to ''shindo'' seven, a severe earthquake.
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
tile
Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or o ...
s,
wood
Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...
en houses,
reinforced concrete buildings,
road
A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation.
There are many types of ...
s,
gas
Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma).
A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...
and
water pipes.
Earthquakes
See also
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Japanese seismologists
*
*
Geology of Japan
The islands of Japan are primarily the result of several large ocean movements occurring over hundreds of millions of years from the mid-Silurian to the Pleistocene, as a result of the subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate beneath the continenta ...
*
Japan Meteorological Agency
The , abbreviated JMA, is an agency of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. It is charged with gathering and providing results for the public in Japan that are obtained from data based on daily scientific observation an ...
*
Japan Meteorological Agency seismic intensity scale
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) Seismic Intensity Scale (known in Japan as the Shindo seismic scale) is a seismic intensity scale used in Japan to categorize the intensity of local ground shaking caused by earthquakes.
The JMA intensi ...
*
List of disasters in Japan by death toll
This is a list of Japanese disasters by their death toll. Included in the list are disasters both natural and man-made, but it excludes acts of war and epidemics. The disasters occurred in Japan and its territories or involved a significant number ...
*
List of volcanoes in Japan
This is a list of active and extinct volcanoes in Japan. An Orange background indicates a volcano considered active by the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Hokkaido
Honshū
Izu Islands
Ogasawara Archipelago
The Ogasawara Archipelag ...
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Nuclear power in Japan#Seismicity
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Kantō earthquakes
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Nankai megathrust earthquakes
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Seismicity of the Sanriku coast
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Tōkai earthquakes
**
Tōnankai earthquakes
References
Further reading
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External links
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Disaster Preparedness in Japan' (bilingual booklet, 3-2015 PDF from Government of Japa
Earthquakes in Japan Since 1900 , Tableau PublicJapanese disasters interactive mapfrom 416 CE to 2013 (labels in Japanese)
One Week of Japanese Earthquakes , Tableau Public*
{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Earthquakes In Japan
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Japan
Earthquakes
Tsunamis in Japan