Magnitude 7.2 Mw Areas affected Japan | Depth 39 km (24 mi) Date 16 August 2005 | |
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Similar 1858 Hietsu earthquake, 1771 Great Yaeyama Tsunami, 1792 Unzen earthqua, 1703 Genroku earthquake, 1948 Fukui earthquake | ||
The 2005 Miyagi earthquake struck the east coast of the Japanese island of Honshū at 11.46 am (02:46 UTC) on August 16, causing casualties, building collapses and power outages. The event registered 7.2 on the moment magnitude scale.
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Earthquake characteristics
The earthquake occurred on Tuesday, August 16, 2005, and affected Japan's northeastern coast. It triggered a tsunami warning, and buildings shook 200 miles away in the capital, Tokyo. It was initially estimated to have a rating of 6.8, and the United States Geological Survey later declared it as a 7.2.
Damage and casualties
A tsunami warning was initially raised by the Japan Meteorological Agency, but was lifted after only two small waves several centimeters high hit shore. Casualties included those killed because of a pool roof collapse in Sendai city, Miyagi prefecture. Initial reports indicated 80 people were injured, but it was later reported by state broadcaster NHK that one person was seriously hurt and thirteen were slightly injured. Seventeen thousand people lost power.
Twenty percent of the world's earthquakes are centered on Japan. The Japanese have been developing systems for early warning of earthquakes. For people of the city of Sendai who were testing the new earthquake warning system, they received a warning of the earthquake from the Meteorological Agency 16 seconds before it reached the city, providing time to take cover. People in Tokyo received a message one minute before it hit. Such technology has since become much more popular and this quake is credited for that, since it was 60 miles off the coast of Japan and there was time for a warning.
Aftermath
Business resumed within a day. Japan's Earthquake Research committee said that the earthquake was not the big one that was predicted to strike in the next 30 years. Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant was shut down, with reactor-1 restarting Jan 2006, 2 on March 2006, 3 in 2007.