Open AccessMajor earthquake strikes Japan
Author(s) -
Suyehiro Kiyoshi
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1029/2007eo300003
Subject(s) - epicenter , death toll , shore , seismology , magnitude (astronomy) , geology , geography , population , oceanography , socioeconomics , demography , physics , astronomy , sociology
On 16 July 2007 at 10:13 A.M. local time (0113 UT) an earthquake of local magnitude 6.8 rumbled offshore Niigata Prefecture on Japan's Honshu Island, originating approximately 17 kilometers underground at 37.5°N, 138.6°E, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. The epicenter was less than 10 kilometers from the shore, close to Kashiwazaki, a city with a population of approximately 100,000. The death toll as of 19 July is 10; all fatalities were people more than 70 years old, most of whom were buried under collapsed buildings, the majority of which were old wooden houses. More than 1300 were injured.