A powerful earthquake struck off Japan’s southern coast, prompting a tsunami advisory from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).
The quake, with a preliminary magnitude of 7.1, was centered off the eastern coast of Kyushu at a depth of about 30 kilometers (18.6 miles). Despite the quake’s strength, there were no immediate reports of significant damage.
Tsunami waves up to 50 centimeters (1.6 feet) were detected along parts of Kyushu’s southern coast and the nearby island of Shikoku about half an hour after the earthquake.
The hardest-hit area was Nichinan city and nearby regions in Miyazaki prefecture on Kyushu.
Seismologists are holding an emergency meeting to determine if the quake affected the nearby Nankai Trough, a known source of past devastating earthquakes. Operators of nuclear plants on Kyushu and Shikoku are checking for any potential damage.
Earthquakes near nuclear facilities are of particular concern following the Fukushima nuclear disaster triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.
Reports from NHK public television indicated some broken windows at Miyazaki airport near the epicenter. Japan, located on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” is highly prone to earthquakes, accounting for about 20% of global quakes with a magnitude of 6.0 or greater. The country has heavily invested in earthquake-resistant infrastructure and training for its population.
The Extreme Event Solutions business unit of Verisk estimates that insured losses to properties from the January 1 M7.5 earthquake that struck near the Noto peninsula in Ishikawa prefecture, Japan, will be between JPY 260 billion (USD 1.8 billion) and JPY 480 billion (USD 3.3 billion).
Per the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the January 1, 2024, M7.5 earthquake on the west coast of Japan occurred due to shallow reverse faulting in the Earth’s crust.
Japan is a seismically active region with most earthquakes occurring off the east coast, where the Pacific plate subducts beneath Japan.
This earthquake occurred on the west coast of Japan, where crustal deformation created by the broader plate motions is accommodated in shallow faults.
CoreLogic estimates that insured losses in Japan due to damage from ground shaking, fires following, tsunamis, and liquefaction could be between $1 and $5 bn (144.6 bn and 722.8 bn yen).
This insured loss estimate includes damage to buildings and their contents, as well as business interruption or the costs associated with additional living expenses.
Damage to residential, commercial, industrial, and Kyosai structures are included. Government property; infrastructure such as road and rail networks; water and electric power systems; and oil and gas pipelines are not included.
Initial Japanese reports indicate material damage in the smaller towns and cities nearby the Noto Peninsula, such as Wajima and Suzu. Over 90% of the 5,000 homes in the city may have been damaged or destroyed. However, the earthquake spared major economic centers like Tokyo, reducing the loss potential from this event.
The earthquake brings back memories of the “Great East Japan Earthquake” on March 11, 2011, which had a magnitude of 9.1 and triggered devastating tsunami waves reaching heights up to 40.5 meters.
This disaster resulted in nearly 20,000 deaths, with about 2,500 people still missing. It also caused the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, leading to significant radioactive contamination and long-term evacuation of affected areas.
A decade later, over 40,000 people, mostly from Fukushima, remain unable to return home due to ongoing radiation issues.
Recovery efforts have been extensive, costing more than 30 trillion yen, but some coastal towns in the north remain largely uninhabited. Despite no direct fatalities from radiation, the long-term impact has left 2.4% of Fukushima’s land as no-go zones near the Daiichi plant.
Japan will spend an additional $660m rebuilding areas ravaged by a devastating New Year’s Day earthquake, prime minister Fumio Kishida said, taking the total amount of relief to $1.7bn.
