Recent major earthquakes in Japan

Located on the "Ring of Fire," a series of volcanoes and ocean trenches surrounding part of the Pacific Ocean basin, Japan accounts for approximately 20% of the world's earthquakes with a magnitude of 6 or higher, and experiences up to 2,000 perceptible earthquakes each year.

Cracks in the road caused by an earthquake in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, on January 1, 2024. Photo: Kyodo

Here are some of the major earthquakes in Japan over the past 30 years.

January 16, 1995 : A 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck central Japan, devastating the port city of Kobe. The worst earthquake to hit the country in 50 years, it killed over 6,400 people and caused an estimated $100 billion in damage.

October 23, 2004 : A 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck Niigata Prefecture, about 250 km north of Tokyo, killing 65 people and injuring 3,000.

March 11, 2011 : A powerful 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami struck northeastern Japan, killing nearly 20,000 people and causing the Fukushima disaster – the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

April 16, 2016 : A powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck Kumamoto on Japan's southern island, killing more than 220 people.

A car is stuck in a crack in the road after the earthquake in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, last Monday. Photo: Reuters

June 18, 2018 : A 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck Osaka, Japan's second-largest city, killing four people, injuring hundreds, and halting production at an industrial park.

September 6, 2018: A powerful 6.7 magnitude earthquake paralyzed the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, killing at least seven people, causing landslides, and leaving 5.3 million residents without power.

February 13, 2021 : A powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Fukushima in eastern Japan, injuring dozens of people and causing widespread power outages.

On March 16, 2022 : A powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Fukushima, killing two people and injuring 94, reviving memories of the earthquake and tsunami that had devastated the region just over a decade earlier.

Mai Anh (according to Kyodo, Reuters)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/nhung-tran-dong-dat-lon-nhat-o-nhat-ban-ke-tu-tham-hoa-kobe-nam-1995-post279375.html