Japan Trench
Japan · subduction interface · 916.8 km of mapped active fault in 37 traces
background as of 7 November 2026.
consistent with baseline
| Window | the last 30.0 days |
|---|---|
| Earthquakes counted | 1 at M4.5 or above |
| Expected in that window | 1.64 |
| Rate against normal | 0.61x |
| Largest | M6.1 |
What this system normally does
From 1995 to 2025 the catalogue holds 599 earthquakes of M4.5 or larger attributable to this system: about 19.97 a year. That figure is what "elevated" on this page is measured against.
The fault itself
| Mapped length | 916.8 km |
|---|---|
| Traces | 37 |
| Tectonic setting | subduction interface |
| Slip types | Subduction_Thrust |
| Depth attributed to it | down to 700.0 km |
| Extent | 34.89 to 42.08 latitude, 142.03 to 146.20 longitude |
Recorded history
NOAA's hazard records hold 17 significant earthquakes and 18 tsunamis attributed to this system since 869.
The deadliest was the 15 June 1896 magnitude 8.3 earthquake (Japan: Sanriku), which killed 27,122 people.
The strongest earthquake on record here was magnitude 9.1, on 11 March 2011 (Japan: Honshu).
The most recent entry is the 7 December 2012 magnitude 7.2 earthquake (Japan: Honshu: Miyagi Prefecture).
Across the entries that record a death toll, 54,637 people died.
| Date | What | Where | Toll |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 June 1896 | tsunami (waves to 38.2 m) | Sanriku | 27,122 dead, 11,000 homes destroyed, damage over $25 million |
| 15 June 1896 | magnitude 8.3 earthquake | Japan: Sanriku | 27,122 dead, 11,000 homes destroyed, damage over $25 million |
| 11 March 2011 | tsunami (waves to 39.3 m) | Honshu Island | 18,423 dead, 123,661 homes destroyed, $220,137 million damage |
| 11 March 2011 | magnitude 9.1 earthquake | Japan: Honshu | 18,423 dead, 123,661 homes destroyed, $220,137 million damage |
| 2 December 1611 | tsunami (waves to 25 m) | Sanriku | 5,000 dead, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 2 December 1611 | magnitude 8.1 earthquake | Japan: Sanriku | 5,000 dead, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 2 March 1933 | tsunami (waves to 29 m) | Sanriku | 3,022 dead, 6,000 homes destroyed, damage over $25 million |
| 2 March 1933 | magnitude 8.4 earthquake | Japan: Sanriku | 3,022 dead, 6,000 homes destroyed, damage over $25 million |
| 13 July 869 | tsunami | Sanriku | 1,000 dead, damage over $25 million |
| 17 February 1793 | magnitude 8.3 earthquake | Japan: Sanriku, Rikuzen, Rikuchu | 745 dead, 1,160 homes destroyed, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 17 February 1793 | tsunami (waves to 4.5 m) | Sanriku | 745 dead, 1,160 homes destroyed, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 6 December 1616 | magnitude 7.5 earthquake | Japan: Sanriku | 200 dead |
| 16 May 1968 | magnitude 8.2 earthquake | Japan: off East Coast of Honshu Island | 52 dead, 1,218 homes destroyed, $131 million damage |
| 16 May 1968 | tsunami (waves to 6 m) | off East Coast of Honshu Island | 52 dead, 1,218 homes destroyed, $131 million damage |
| 25 April 1843 | magnitude 8.4 earthquake | Japan: Hokkaido: Yezo, Kushiro, Nemuro | 45 dead, 75 homes destroyed, damage $1 to 5 million |
| 25 April 1843 | tsunami (waves to 4.5 m) | Se. Hokkaido Island | 45 dead, 75 homes destroyed, damage $1 to 5 million |
| 23 August 1856 | magnitude 8.0 earthquake | Japan: Oshima | 26 dead, 193 homes destroyed, damage $1 to 5 million |
| 23 August 1856 | tsunami (waves to 6 m) | Se. Hokkaido Island | 26 dead, 193 homes destroyed, damage $1 to 5 million |
| 25 September 2003 | magnitude 8.3 earthquake | Japan: Hokkaido | 2 dead, $90 million damage |
| 25 September 2003 | tsunami (waves to 4.4 m) | Hokkaido Island | 2 dead, $90 million damage |
| 13 July 869 | magnitude 8.6 earthquake | Japan: Sanriku | damage over $25 million |
| 13 April 1677 | magnitude 8.1 earthquake | Japan: Sanriku | damage under $1 million |
| 5 August 1897 | magnitude 7.7 earthquake | Japan: Sanriku | damage under $1 million |
| 10 November 1730 | magnitude 7.6 earthquake | Japan: Kashima | - |
| 9 October 1257 | magnitude 7.5 earthquake | Sanriku, Japan | - |
These are the 25 deadliest and largest of 35 entries. A dash means NOAA recorded no number, not that nobody died. Older entries are fewer because fewer were written down, not because less happened.
Recorded history: NOAA NCEI hazard databases, public domain, retrieved 2026-10-22.
Published rupture probability
Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion (HERP) publishes a probability for this system. It is their figure, not ours:
| Probability | rank III, over 26% |
|---|---|
| For an earthquake of | M7.0 or larger |
| Within | 30 years |
| As of | 2019 |
HERP publishes this as a rank rather than a point estimate: rank III means a 30-year probability above 26 percent, for an M7.0 to 7.5 event.
Read the issuer's own publication
Who to listen to if you live here
Japan Meteorological Agency is the agency that tells people on this system what to do. https://www.jma.go.jp/jma/en/Activities/earthquake.html (in English)
Other systems in Japan
Where these numbers come from
Fault geometry, length and segment counts: GEM Global Active Faults Database (GEM GAF-DB), GEM Foundation, https://github.com/GEMScienceTools/gem-global-active-faults Licence: CC-BY-SA-4.0. Figures derived from it here are offered under the same licence. Earthquake counts, magnitudes and depths: United States Geological Survey, public domain. The activity judgement is ours, computed from those two inputs, and is not a statement by either agency.