Past Off-shore Miyagi Prefecture Earthquakes and the Recent Earthquake (Since 1885)

(1) February 20, 1897 / 05:50 (JST) / 38°N 06′, 141°E 54′ / 60km / M7.4
Slight damage in Iwate, Yamagata, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures. Rapid increase of tide level to a height of 0.9m in Sakari-cho.

(2) November 3, 1936 / 05:45 / 38°N 16′, 142°E 04′ / 61km / M7.4
4 injured people, some property damage, small tsunami in Miyagi prefecture.

(3) June 12, 1978 / 17:14 / 38°N 09′, 142°E 10′ / 40km / M7.4
28 fatalities, 1325 injured people, 1183 houses totally collapsed, maximum tsunami height was 49cm (in the New Port of Sendai)

(4) August 16, 2005 / 11:46 / 38°N 09′, 142°E 17′ / 41km / M7.2
46 injured people (3 seriously injured), 1 house totally collapsed, 208 houses partially destroyed, 1 building fire.
Tsunami with a height of 0.1m (Ayukawa, Ishinomaki city, Miyagi prefecture)

Information about the past earthquakes is from the Comprehensive Bibliography of Destructive Earthquakes in Japan (Usami, 2003). The recent information is from the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.

Japan Meteorological Agency