Origin time 14:26 UTC Depth 90 km (56 mi) Casualties 12 deaths | Magnitude Ms 8.1 Areas affected Japan | |
 | ||
Date 15 June 1911 (1911-06-15) | ||
The 1911 Kikai Island earthquake (1911年喜界島地震 Sen-kyūhyaku-jyūichi-nen Kikai-jima Jishin) occurred on June 15 at 14:26 UTC (23:26 local time). The earthquake was located near Kikai Island, Japan. It had a magnitude of Ms 8.1.
The earthquake occurred near the northern end of the deepest region in Ryukyu Trench. The hypocenter was located near 28.00°E, 130.00°N, about 30 km south of the Kikai Island, with a depth of about 100 km. However, due to the instrumental precision of that time, the location of the hypocenter was just an approximation, and estimations differ. A recent study estimated that the hypocenter was located near 28.90°E, 130.25°N, about 60 km NNE of the Kikai Island, with a depth of about 30 km.
Twelve people were reported dead, including one on Kikai Island. Four hundred and twenty two houses were completely destroyed, 401 of which on Kikai Island. Damage was also reported on Amami Ōshima, Toku-no-shima, and Okinawa Island. The wall of Shuri Castle in Shuri was damaged. This earthquake could be felt as far as in Shanghai, China, Tainan, Taiwan (then under Japanese rule), and Fukushima, Japan.
Tsunami
The earthquake triggered a tsunami which was recorded on Kikai Island and Amami Ōshima. The tsunami was relatively small on the east coast of Kikai Island, but had a height of at least 5m on the west coast of Kikai Island and also in Amami Ōshima, and may have had a maximum height of over 10m in certain parts of Kikai Island.