Seismology of the Sanriku coast

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The Sanriku coast (三陸海岸, Sanriku kaigan^?) of Japan has had significant seismic activity. A major earthquake in the nineteenth century caused more than 20,000 deaths, and another in the twentieth century caused thousands more. Seismic activity continues in the twenty-first century.

Contents 1 Nineteenth century 2 Twentieth century 3 Twenty-first century 4 References

[edit] Nineteenth century

Some 22,000 people were killed in the Meiji Sanriku earthquake of 1896. Most of the deaths were caused by tsunami. The disaster struck at 8:06am on the morning of August 31. The epicenter was determined to have been located at 39.500 Latitude/140.600 Longitude, but no Richter Scale magnitude can be assessed on the basis of available data.^[1]...Click link for NOAA/Japan: Significant Earthquake Database

[edit] Twentieth century

In the Showa Sanriku quake of 1933, 3,008 people died. Again, the major cause was tsunami.^[2]

There was also a 1994 Sanriku-Haruka-Oki earthquake.^[3] and a 7.0 2003 Miyagi-Oki quake in the same area, injuring 171 and causing $97.3 million in damages.^[4] and a July 26, 2003 quake with 676 injured persons, and 11,341 buildings were damaged with $195.4 million in damages.^[5]

[edit] Twenty-first century

The 2005 Sanriku Japan Earthquake occurred at 6:39am Japan Standard Time (UTC+9) on November 15, 2005. It was originally recorded by the United States Geological Survey as a 7.2-magnitude earthquake on the Moment magnitude scale, but the Japan Meteorological Agency called it a magnitude 6.9 earthquake.

Almost immediately after the quake, the Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami warning. Earthquake-associated waves of between 1 and 2 feet were reported at Ofunato on the east coast of Japan.^[6]. Warnings were also issued for the northwest coast of the United States

The earthquake was centered in the Pacific Ocean about 330 miles east-northeast of Tokyo about 24 miles below the surface.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

[edit] References

1. ^ Online "Significant Earthquake Database" -- U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC)
2. ^ Reports about TSUNAMI
3. ^ Slip history of the 1994 Sanriku-Haruka-Oki, Japan, earthquake deduced from strong-motion data - Nakayama and Takeo 87 (4): 918 - Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America
4. ^ MAY 26, 2003 MIYAGI-OKI (JAPAN) EARTHQUAKE
5. ^ JULY 26, 2003 NORTHERN MIYAGI (JAPAN) EARTHQUAKE
6. ^ "Ofunato waves" (link expired). 

• "Strong Earthquake Shakes Northern Japan", Associated Press, November 14, 2005. 
• "Japan quake prompts tsunami alert", CNN.com, November 14, 2005. 
• Technical information. United States Geological Survey.
• Earthquake shakes Japan, small tsunamis measured