Japan shaken by over 70 earthquakes of magnitude 6, above since 1995

By Dilara Karatas and Zeynep Katre Oran

ANKARA (AA) – Located on the Pacific Earthquake Belt, also called the "Ring of Fire," where about 80% of the world's major earthquakes occur, Japan has witnessed many deadly earthquakes.

Japan, which is one of the most geologically active regions in the world, has had nearly 70 earthquakes of magnitude 6 and above, which have claimed tens of thousands of lives since 1995.

Anadolu compiled the major earthquakes that have shaken Japan over the past 30 years, from the Great Hanshin earthquake that turned the city of Kobe into rubble in January 1995 to the earthquakes in Ishikawa Prefecture on Monday.

Due to Monday’s earthquakes that occurred in Ishikawa province in the west of the country and on the coast of the Noto Peninsula in this region, ranging in magnitude from five to seven, 48 people lost their lives.

After the quakes, roads were destroyed and about 200 structures in the immediate vicinity were damaged in a fire in the city of Wajima on the Noto Peninsula, while about 50,000 people were evacuated throughout the region.

Geospatial Information Center recorded that the land was moving 1.3 meters (over 4.2 feet) to the west at Wajima on the coast.

- Kobe: Most destructive earthquake

In a magnitude 7.3 earthquake that hit the city of Kobe with 1.5 million people on Jan. 17, 1995, more than 6,400 people lost their lives and about 40,000 were injured.

The disaster, which occurred at a depth of 17 kilometers (over 10.5 miles), was recorded as the most destructive earthquake experienced in Japan in the last 50 years.

While the Great Hanshin Earthquake (Kobe earthquake) damaged more than 640,000 buildings, it also caused more than $100 billion in damage to the Japanese economy.

A total of 65 people died and about 3,000 people were injured in the magnitude 6.8 earthquake that occurred in Niigata, Japan, on Oct. 23, 2004.

On the same day, two more earthquakes of magnitude 6 and 6.5 occurred in the region.

- 2011 tsunami

The largest earthquake that occurred in the country was recorded in the Tohoku region of Japan on March 11, 2011.

A tsunami hit the northeastern coast of the country after a 1-kilometer fracture formed on the ocean floor due to a magnitude 9 earthquake in the region.

At least 19,000 people lost their lives in Japan’s biggest earthquake and tsunami that occurred in Japan in the last 30 years.

The disaster left 450,000 people homeless.

Almost all of the deaths and most of the destruction in the region were caused by the tsunami.

In addition, there was a leak at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant due to the earthquake.

Radioactive materials were spread to the environment due to the leak and thousands of people were evacuated from their homes.

The tsunami waves reached 40 meters high, severely paralyzing the country's infrastructure.

- Kumamoto earthquakes

On April 14-16, 2016, two consecutive earthquakes of magnitude 6.2 and 7.3, approximately at a depth of 11 kilometers (6.8 miles), jolted the city of Kumamoto in southern Japan.

More than 200 people lost their lives and nearly 3,000 people were injured in the quakes.

Over 90,000 people in the region were evacuated from their homes due to the damage caused by the disaster.

After the earthquakes and aftershocks, the water supply was cut to the entire city of Kumamoto, the airport was closed to all flights except for emergencies, and train services were also suspended.

Separately, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake occurred on June 18, 2018, near the city of Osaka in the country.

The quake took four lives while injuring at least 380 people and damaging many buildings in the region.

The earthquake caused fires in several buildings, cracks on roads, and suspension in the water supply, while some plane and train services were also suspended.

- Hokkaido earthquake

In total, 41 people died and hundreds were injured in a magnitude 6.7 earthquake recorded on Sept. 6, 2018, on the island of Hokkaido in the north of the country.

Landslides caused by the quake left many houses under the ground in the city of Atsuma on the island, while about 2,700 people were evacuated to safe areas.

The international airport in the region was closed for flights due to the earthquake, which led to the interruption of electricity and transportation services on the island, where about 5.4 million people live.

Furthermore, a magnitude 7.3 earthquake on Feb. 13, 2021, near Fukushima prefecture in northeastern Japan left 160 people injured and 1,700 buildings damaged.

After the disaster, there were about 80 aftershocks with magnitudes ranging from 4 to 5.

Education, power supply, and train services connecting the capital Tokyo to the entire region were disrupted.

Also, three people lost their lives and 198 people were injured in a magnitude 7.4 earthquake recorded on March 16, 2022, off Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures in the northeast of the country.

Following a tsunami warning after the earthquake, waves below 1 meter hit the coastal areas.

There was a temporary power outage in more than 2.2 million residences in nine states of the country, and railway services were suspended for a while.

*Writing by Merve Berker