2012 Kamaishi earthquake

2012 Kamaishi earthquake
Date December 7, 2012 (2012-12-07)
Origin time 08:18 UTC (17:18 local time)[1]
Duration about 1 minute[2]
Magnitude 7.3
Depth 36.1 km (22 mi)
Epicenter 37°53′20″N 144°05′24″E / 37.889°N 144.090°E / 37.889; 144.090Coordinates: 37°53′20″N 144°05′24″E / 37.889°N 144.090°E / 37.889; 144.090
Areas affected Japan
Max. intensity MMI V
Shindo 5-
Tsunami 1.0 m in Ishinomaki, Miyagi
Landslides no
Aftershocks 8
Casualties 3 dead, 14 injured [3][4][5][6][7][8][9]

The 2012 Kamaishi earthquake occurred near the city of Kamaishi, Japan, on December 7.[10] The magnitude 7.3 shock generated a small tsunami, with waves up to 1 m high, that hit Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture.[11] It occurred at a depth of 36 km within the Pacific Plate and was the result of reverse faulting, about 20 kilometres (12 mi) east of the Japan Trench.[1]

Damage

Tsunami

The 1 metre (3.3 ft) tsunami caused a mountain of sandbags to collapse in Ishinomaki.[8] An old man went missing and was found dead on December 14 after he sailed out to sea to try to evacuate from the tsunami in Kuji.[7][8]

Shaking

Some pipeworks were damaged in an old people's facility in Saitama.[2] Some boards in a roof of an elementary school in Ichikai shifted.[12] An elderly lady died of shock at her home in Marumori, and a man died of shock after trying to evacuate from where he was working in Iitate, causing a total of 3 deaths.[7] This earthquake also caused 14 injuries.[8]

Previous earthquakes in Kamaishi

In 2001 and 2008, there were a series of micro earthquakes that could have started the tectonic plate movement that spawned the 2012 Kamaishi earthquake. These small series of earthquakes were a magnitude of about 3-4.9. It is studied that the shocks moved from the outer and deeper limits into the mainshock epicenter. These small earthquakes were a precursor that began the tectonic movement for the 2012 earthquake.[13]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "M7.3 - 245km SE of Kamaishi, Japan". earthquake.usgs.gov. USGS. 7 December 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  2. 1 2 "三陸沖地震 埼玉県内も震度4 女性1人けが". 産経新聞. 8 December 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2012.
  3. "Small tsunami waves hit Japan after 7.3-magnitude earthquake". NBC.
  4. "東北、関東で震度5弱=宮城・石巻に津波1メートル-11人けが、沿岸部は一時避難". 時事ドットコム. 2012-12-07. Retrieved 2012-12-08.
  5. http://mainichi.jp/select/news/20121208k0000e040155000c.html
  6. http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20121208-00000016-khks-soci
  7. 1 2 3 "2万5000人が一時避難 震度5弱 交通機関ほぼ平常に". 河北新報. 2012-12-08. Retrieved 2012-12-09.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "東北震度5弱:8県で14人けが". 毎日新聞. 2012-12-08. Retrieved 2012-12-09.
  9. "不明の船長、遺体で発見=地震直後に沖合避難―岩手". 時事通信. 2012-12-14. Retrieved 2012-12-15.
  10. "Kamaishi Japan Rocked By 7.3 Magnitude Earthquake & Ofunato Japan Shaken by 6.2 Quake".
  11. "Japan earthquake sparks tsunami scare". BBC News. 2012-12-07.
  12. "三陸沖地震 宇都宮で男性軽傷、市貝町で小学校の天井がずれる". 産経新聞. 8 December 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2012.
  13. Uchida, Naoki; Matsuzawa, Toru; Ellsworth, William L.; Imanishi, Kazutoshi; Shimamura, Kouhei; Hasegawa, Akira (2012-05-01). "Source parameters of microearthquakes on an interplate asperity off Kamaishi, NE Japan over two earthquake cycles". Geophysical Journal International. 189 (2): 999–1014. doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2012.05377.x. ISSN 0956-540X.


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/26/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.