Earthquake in Nara Prefecture on July 16

Earthquake in Nara Prefecture on July 16

On July 16, 2007 at 17:24 (JST) there was a M4.7 earthquake at a depth of 49km under Nara prefecture (maximum seismic intensity 3). This event occurred within the Philippine Sea plate. The focal mechanism showed a strike-slip fault with a tension axis in a NE-SW direction. Although earthquakes equal to or larger than M3.0 have occurred about once a year, earthquakes equal to or larger than M4.0 have been rare in the vicinity of the recent event since October in 1997.

For the seismic activity equal to or larger than M5.0 since August in 1923, in the vicinity of Nara prefecture, seismic activity including M6 class events was seen before and after both the 1944 Tonankai and the 1946 Nankai Earthquakes. Other than those events, there was only one earthquake (M5.5) on February 11, 1984. In the area close to the recent event, there has been no earthquake equal to or larger than M5.0.

Japan Meteorological Agency
[Seismic Activity for July 2007 (August 8, 2007)]