This article is about earthquakes along the Nankai megathrust fault generally. For those earthquakes that affect the Nankai region specifically, see Nankai earthquakes.
Envisioned focal area of M9.1 Nankai Trough Megathrust Earthquake, by Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion, 2013.
Nankai megathrust earthquakes are great megathrust earthquakes that occur along the Nankai megathrust – the fault under the Nankai Trough – which forms the plate interface between the subducting Philippine Sea Plate and the overriding Amurian Plate (part of the Eurasian Plate), which dips beneath southwestern Honshu, Japan. The fault is divided into five segments in three zones, which rupture separately or in combination, and depending on location, the resulting earthquakes are subdivided by zone from west to east into Nankai earthquakes, Tōnankai earthquakes, and Tōkai earthquakes.
The earthquakes occur with a return period of about 90–200 years, and often occur in pairs, where a rupture along one part of the fault is followed by a rupture elsewhere on the fault, notably the 1854 Ansei-Tōkai earthquake and the 1854 Ansei-Nankai earthquake the next day, and the 1944 Tōnankai earthquake, followed by the 1946 Nankaidō earthquake. In one recorded case (the 1707 Hōei earthquake) the fault ruptured along its entire length. All of these great earthquakes have resulted in damaging tsunamis, which are particularly damaging due to the Japanese population being concentrated on the Taiheiyō Belt, especially the coastal cities of Tokyo and Osaka, the two most populous in Japan. The area remains seismically active, and future earthquakes are anticipated, with a high risk of a Nankai earthquake in the near future, which could be potentially very damaging.
and 20 Related for: Nankai megathrust earthquakes information
Megathrustearthquakes occur at convergent plate boundaries, where one tectonic plate is forced underneath another. The earthquakes are caused by slip...
offshore. The underlying fault, the Nankaimegathrust, is the source of the devastating Nankaimegathrustearthquakes, while the trough itself is potentially...
The Nankaiearthquakes (南海地震, Nankai jishin) are major megathrustearthquakes that affect the Nankaidō (Southern Sea Circuit) region of Japan, west of...
Megathrustearthquakes are large seismic events that take place along convergent plate boundaries, particularly at subduction zones. Examples of subduction...
convergent plate boundary leads to many earthquakes, some of them of the megathrust type. The Nankaimegathrust has five distinct segments (A–E) that can...
two years after the 1944 Tōnankai earthquake, which ruptured the adjacent part of the Nankaimegathrust. The Nankai Trough is a convergent boundary where...
similarities to faults in Chile, Alaska, and Japan's Nankai Trough, locations known for megathrustearthquakes, a conclusion that was met with skepticism from...
earthquake is that the release of seismic energy occurs at long periods (low frequencies) relative to typical tsunamigenic earthquakes. Earthquakes of...
portal List of deadly earthquakes since 1900 List of natural disasters by death toll List of tsunamis in Europe Lists of earthquakes Prehistoric tsunamis...
notable fault, but only major fault zones.[clarification needed] Lists of earthquakes Tectonics Yeats, R. (2012), Active Faults of the World, Cambridge University...
compared to a regular earthquake, but not "silent" as described in the past. Slow earthquakes should not be confused with tsunami earthquakes, in which relatively...
these two lithospheres can sometimes produce megathrustearthquakes although there has been no recent megathrust quakes on the fault other than the 1839 and...
where it meets the Nankai Trough. It runs north of the Izu Islands chain and the Izu–Bonin–Mariana Arc (IBM). Megathrustearthquakes associated with the...
the existence of a long running earthquake cycle. The most studied earthquake faults (such as the Nankaimegathrust, the Wasatch fault, and the San Andreas...
The Ansei great earthquakes (安政の大地震, Ansei no Dai Jishin) were a series of major earthquakes that struck Japan during the Ansei era (1854–1860): The Ansei...
Understanding plate tectonics helps to explain the cause of submarine earthquakes. The Earth's surface or lithosphere comprises tectonic plates which average...
earthquakes Lists of 20th-century earthquakes Lists of 21st-century earthquakes List of tsunamis Lists of earthquakes List of megathrustearthquakes Mahima...
coastal-uplift records of Muroto point near the Nankai subduction zone, caused by repeated megathrustearthquakes over many centuries; coastal uplift and tsunami...
Global Information