6.2M Earthquake Event: Eastern Honshu, Japan

Natural Hazard – Earthquake Event

Updated on Monday, 24 November, 2014

The earthquake occurred in Japan , Region of Chubu (population 5,172,046) . The nearest places are Nagano, Oiri, and Kaguraoka. The maximum altitude nearby is 3000m . The area has steep slopes (up to 50 percent) and may be susceptible to landslides.

Event Map: M6.2 – 16km NNE of Omachi, Japan.. 2014-11-22 13:08:18 UTC This is a product of the GEOFON Extended Virtual Network (GEVN) and credit belongs to all involved institutions.

Asia  –  Japan | Prefecture of Nagano, Eastern Honshu, Chubu, Omachi
Location:  16km NNE of Omachi, Japan
Magnitude: 6.2
Time: 2014-11-22 13:08:18 UTC
Epicenter:  36.640°N 137.911°E
Depth: 10.0km (6.2mi) Shallow
Affected Area: Area affected by light damage (estimated radius): 49 km (MMI VII)
Injuries:  57
Fatalities:   unknown
Missing: unknown

6.2 magnitude earthquake near Omachi, Nagano, Japan

No tsunami statement issued

Population: 4,119,469 people within 100km
176 km NW of Yono, Japan / pop: 1,077,730 / local time: 22:08:18.1 2014-11-22
23 km W of Nagano-shi, Japan / pop: 360,176 / local time: 22:08:18.1 2014-11-22
18 km N of Ōmachi, Japan / pop: 30,599 / local time: 22:08:18.1 2014-11-22

Interactive Earthquake Browser

Waveform: MWP6.2 Off Eastern Honshu, Japan, 2014-11-22 13:08:18 UTC. This event plot shows 1 hour of data from the nearest available seismic station in the Global Seismographic Network. Matsushiro, Japan (36.54567° N x 138.20406° E)

Media Analysis:

Monday, 24 November, 2014 at 16:13 UTC

The damage from an overnight earthquake in a mountainous area of central Japan that hosted the 1998 winter Olympics proved more extensive than initially thought. A daylight assessment Sunday found at least 50 homes destroyed in two villages, and 41 people injured across the region, including seven seriously, mostly with broken bones, officials said. The magnitude-6.7 earthquake struck shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday west of Nagano city at a depth of 3 miles, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The agency revised the magnitude and depth from initial estimates. The U.S. Geological Survey recorded a magnitude of 6.2. Since the quake occurred inland, there was no possibility of a tsunami. Ryo Nishino, a restaurant owner in Hakuba, a ski resort village west of Nagano, told Japanese broadcaster NHK that he had “never experienced a quake that shook so hard. The sideways shaking was enormous.” He said he was in the restaurant’s wine cellar when the quake struck, and that nothing broke there. Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said no abnormalities were reported at three nuclear power plants in the affected areas. All of Japan’s nuclear plants are offline following a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and massive tsunami in 2011 that sent three reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant into meltdown. Fukushima is about 155 miles northeast of where Saturday’s earthquake occurred. The hardest-hit area appeared to be Hakuba, which hosted events in the 1998 winter games. At least 43 homes were destroyed there, and 17 people injured, national and local disaster agencies said. Another seven homes were lost in Otari, a nearby village to the north. Non-residential buildings were also destroyed, with officials assessing the extent. Japanese television footage showed buildings in various states of collapse, some flattened and others leaning to one side, and deep cracks in the roads. A landslide spilled onto a railroad track, forcing service to stop. About 200 people from Hakuba and Otari had evacuated to shelters. Shigeharu Fujimori, a Nagano prefecture disaster management official, said it was fortunate there haven’t been any deaths reported despite the extent of the damage. More than 20 people trapped under collapsed houses were rescued, the National Police Agency told Japan’s Kyodo news agency. Japanese television showed police going house to house Sunday morning, calling out to make sure that inhabitants were accounted for. “The hardest-hit area was in the mountains and sparsely populated, where neighbors have a close relationship and help each other,” Fujimori said. “So I don’t think anyone has been forgotten or left isolated.”

Sunday, 23 November, 2014 at 15:05 UTC

Japanese police have changed reports on the number of those injured in a 6.8-point earthquake which rocked the country on Saturday stating about 39 those injured now. Seven are in heavy condition, the Japanese main police department said. Local law enforcement agencies have earlier reported about 57 injured in the tremors. Russian Embassy in Japan did not receive any information about Russians injured in an earthquake. “We did not receive such information, we keep checking all coming information,” the embassy noted. A strong earthquake has jolted Japan on Saturday evening. The earthquake’s epicentre nested at a depth of ten kilometres in Nagano Prefecture, the domestic weather-forecasting service said. No tsunami threat was announced. A devastating earthquake also did not activate volcano Ontake located near Nagano Prefecture, eruption of which claimed more than 50 lives in September. No suspicious changes were fixed in the condition of volcano. Largest world nuclear power plant Kashiwazaki Kariwa also did not report any emergency situations in the natural disaster, operating company Tokyo Electric Power told TASS earlier. No incidents were also reported at other Japanese nuclear facilities, including nuclear power plant Fukushima-1. The natural disaster has ruined several houses in town Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture, located at the foothills of so-called Japanese Alps, a famous highland ski resort. Rescuers working in the earthquake area succeeded to recover all those trapped under debris and their lives are not in danger. Twenty-one were saved, two of them had got slight injuries. The country’s Ground Self-Defence Force units were dispatched in the earthquake-hit region to participate in rescue operations.

Sunday, 23 November, 2014 at 06:03 UTC

A 6.8-magnitude quake hit the northern parts of central Japan’s Nagano prefecture late Saturday, causing many injuries, building collapses, landslides, and road damages, local reports said. At least 57 people have been injured in the earthquake that struck around 10:08 p.m. local time (1308 GMT) Saturday, police said on Sunday. Injuries were reported in Nagano city and Hakuba village, where more than 80 people stayed overnight in an evacuation shelter. About 10 houses collapsed and at least 10 people were injured in Hakuba, one of the hardest-hit areas. The quake also triggered landslides in Hakuba, some 280 km northwest of Tokyo, which have blocked roads. Some roads in Nagano and Niigata were damaged. The Nagano prefecture government has enforced the disaster relief law to Hakuba and other villages. The extent of damage caused by the quake is still being probed. Several aftershocks were recorded following the 6.8-magnitude temblor, with two registered at 4.3-magnitude and 4.1-magnitude respectively. Japan’s Meteorological Agency (JMA) warned of possible strong aftershocks in the week. The quake triggered no tsunami alert, said JMA, adding active fault movements triggered the quake. The epicenter was initially detected at around 36.7 degrees north latitude and 137.9 degrees east longitude, with a depth of 10 km, said the agency. The 6.8-magnitude quake was registered at lower 6 of Japan’s seismic scale of 7 in parts of the prefecture and lower 5 in neighboring Niigata prefecture, it said. Japan’s public broadcaster NHK said the earthquake lasted about 15 seconds, adding no damage has so far been reported at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in neighboring Niigata prefecture. The quake triggered blackouts in some areas and bullet train services in the region were affected. The earthquake was felt across much of northern Japan and in Tokyo. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said late Saturday that the government has set up a disaster relief office and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has given instructions on rescue works. Suga also said the government will send members of the Self-Defense Forces to the quake-hit areas.

Earthquake in Japan on Sunday, 23 November, 2014 at 05:36 (05:36 AM) UTC.

A strong earthquake has struck a mountainous area of central Japan that hosted the 1998 winter Olympics, knocking down at least 10 homes in a ski resort town and injuring more than 20 people, officials say. The magnitude-6.8 earthquake hit near Nagano city shortly after 10 pm at a depth of 6 miles, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The US Geological Survey measured the quake’s magnitude at 6.2. Since the quake occurred inland, there was no possibility of a tsunami. But a local restaurant owner tells Japanese media he has “never experienced a quake that shook so hard.” Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said no abnormalities were reported at three nuclear power plants in the affected areas. (All of Japan’s nuclear plants are offline following 2011’s tsunami.) But at least 22 people were injured-three of them seriously-in Nagano city, the resort town of Hakuba, and elsewhere, the National Polilce Agency told Japan’s Kyodo news agency. The agency told Kyodo that 21 people were trapped underneath the collapsed houses, but they all were rescued, with two of them injured. The quake was followed by 21 aftershocks, said an official who warned of further aftershocks and urged residents to watch out for landslides.

Source: RSOE EDIS

More Information:
USGS/NEIC Denver, USA
GeoForschungsZentrum (GEOFON) Potsdam, German
Earthquake Information for Japan, Japan Meteorological Agency
Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre  Hawaii, USA