My sister is moving to Kyoto for a semester and my mother and grandmother are worried she will be in a killer earthquake like the one in Kobe in 1995 and along the coast in 2011.
Chosen Answer:
Earthquakes of that magnitude happen VERY infrequently, usually with hundreds of years in betwee. BUT, earthquakes do not happen on a regular basis and there is no way to know when the next Big One will be. There could be another devastating earthquake tomorrow, or not for another 100 years. The best that can be done is to give a list some of the major earthquakes In Japan over the past 1500 years, but again, that does not give any kind of prediction about when the next one will happen.
Year
2011- Tōhoku region (Tōhoku earthquake) Magnitude 9.0
1923 – Kantō region (Kantō earthquake) Magnitude 7.9
1707 – Shikoku region (Hōei earthquake) Magnitude 8.6 (est.)
1703 – Edo region (Genroku earthquake) Magnitude unknown
1498 – Nankai Trough (Meiō Nankaidō earthquake) Magnitude 8.6 (est.)
..869 – Tōhoku region (Sanriku earthquake) Magnitude 8.6 – 9.0 (est.)
Also keep in mind that Japan is quite long,, so a major earthquake in one region of Japan will not affect the entire island chain. For example, an earthquake centered in Shikoku will not necessarily affect central or northern Honshu (or Hokkaido), and an earthquake in Hokkaido will very likely not be felt in the south.
by: Skookum
on: 4th May 13