List of earthquakes in Japan

Although there is mention of an earthquake in Yamato in what is now Nara Prefecture 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, destroying buildings throughout Yamato province. Many historical records of Japanese earthquakes exist. 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 Following the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, the Imperial Earthquake Investigation Committee was superseded by the Earthquake Research Institute in 1925.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 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 used in the United States, the Liedu scale used in China or the European Macroseismic Scale (EMS), meaning that the scale measures the intensity of an earthquake at a given location instead of measuring an energy source 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 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 tiles, wooden houses, reinforced concrete buildings, roads, gas and water pipes. ==List==

} || 8.5–9.0 M || unknown || 17th-century earthquake || 寛文十勝沖地震 (scientific) || kanbun Tokachi-oki jishin || Offshore Tokachi region || inferred from tsunami deposits. The exact age is uncertain. This megathrust earthquake's hypocenter was reported to be off the Oshika Peninsula, the east coast of Tōhoku It was the strongest to hit Japan and one of the top five largest earthquakes in the world since seismological record-keeping began. It was followed by a tsunami with waves of up to along the Sanriku coast. The disaster left thousands dead and inflicted extensive material damage to buildings and infrastructure that led to significant accidents at four major nuclear power stations. 22:08:18 JST 6.7 MJMA 9.0 km depth 07:58:35 JST 03:07:59 JST 54 km depth 80 km depth 63.1 km depth 8.7 km depth 10.0 km depth 25.0 km depth 44.1 km depth 35.0 km depth Strongest earthquakes by prefecture (since 1900) ==Gallery==

File:Diana Wreckage Illustrated London News 1856.jpg|1854 Tōkai earthquake File:Kumamoto earthquake Damage 1889.jpg|1889 Kumamoto earthquake File:PSM V47 D323 Cause of the great earthquake in central japan 1891.jpg|1891 Mino–Owari earthquake File:The great earthquake of 1894-damagescene1.jpg|1894 Tokyo earthquake File:Sanriku Great Tsunami.JPG|1896 Sanriku earthquake File:The Great Kanto Earthquake (3767766524) (cropped).jpg|Great Kantō Earthquake File:1927 Kita-Tango Earthquake damage at Mineyama.jpg|1927 North Tango earthquake File:Ofunato Bay after 1933 tsunami.jpg|1933 Sanriku earthquake File:1943 Tottori earthquake Scan10029-2.JPG|1943 Tottori earthquake File:Fukui Earthquake 1948 - damaged building.jpg|1948 Fukui earthquake File:Liquefaction at Niigata.JPG|1964 Niigata earthquake File:日本海中部地震(1).png|1983 Sea of Japan earthquake File:Hanshin Expressway Nada b059.jpg|Kobe earthquake File:2003年十勝沖地震による苫小牧での石油タンクの火災.jpg|2003 Tokachi earthquake File:中越地震 (12).jpg|2004 Chūetsu earthquake File:岩手・宮城内陸地震による河道閉塞（迫川・栗原市浅布地区）.jpg|2008 Iwate–Miyagi Nairiku earthquake File:Sunpu Castle 20090811.jpg|2009 Shizuoka earthquake File:Distant view of Rikuzentakata.jpg|2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami File:Kamishiro fault earthquake 2.jpg|2014 Nagano earthquake File:Destroyed house by 2016 Kumamoto earthquake.jpg|2016 Kumamoto earthquakes File:Ibaraki break temple.jpg|2018 Osaka earthquake File:北海道胆振東部地震 厚真町 斜面崩壊.jpg|2018 Hokkaido Eastern Iburi earthquake File:Damaged Building in Aoba, Sendai (2022 March Fukushima Earthquake).jpg|2022 Fukushima earthquake File:Damage of 2023 Noto earthquake swarm 01.jpg|2023 Noto earthquake File:R6 noto earthquake wajima burned-out-asaichi-area 2024-02-17 10.jpg|2024 Noto earthquake File:Collapse of block wall Osaki Karijuku Aug 2024.jpg|2024 Hyūga-nada earthquake ==See also==