April 4, 1520 Earthquake: Kii, Kumananonada, Japan

Date

April 4, 1520

Place

Kii, Kumananonada, Japan

Magnitude

7 (Ms)

Tsunami

Yes: the tsunami it caused

Epicenter

33.600° N, 136.300° E

Country

Japan

Damage

Limited (under about $1 million) with its tsunami and other effects

Houses destroyed

Some (about 51 to 100) with its tsunami and other effects

Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.

• January 18, 1586, Ise Bay, JapanM8.2 · 8,000 deaths · 10,000 houses destroyed · 162 km
• January 16, 1995, Kobe, Awaji-Shima, Nishinomiya, SW Honshu, JapanM6.9 · 6,434 deaths · $100 billion · 186,175 houses destroyed · 158 km
• October 28, 1707, Nankaido, JapanM8.4 · 5,000 deaths · 77,000 houses destroyed · 146 km
• February 3, 1605, Nankaido, JapanM7.9 · 5,000 deaths · 400 houses destroyed · 146 km
• September 20, 1498, Enshunada Sea, JapanM8.3 · 5,000 deaths · 1,000 houses destroyed · 172 km
• December 24, 1854, Nankaido, JapanM8.4 · 3,000 deaths · 20,000 houses destroyed · 133 km
• January 12, 1945, S, Honshu, JapanM7.1 · 2,306 deaths · 7,221 houses destroyed · 148 km
• October 28, 1707, Enshunada, JapanM8.4 · 2,000 deaths · 10,000 houses destroyed · 149 km
• December 20, 1946, S Coast, Honshu, JapanM8.3 · 1,362 deaths · 11,661 houses destroyed · 64 km
• July 9, 1854, Iga, Ise, Yamato, Japan1,352 deaths · 5,000 houses destroyed · 158 km
• December 7, 1944, Off Southeast Coast Kii Peninsula, JapanM8.1 · 1,223 deaths · 29,205 houses destroyed · 86 km
• December 23, 1854, Enshunada Sea, JapanM8.3 · 1,000 deaths · 8,900 houses destroyed · 154 km
• August 3, 1361, Nankaido, JapanM8.4 · 660 deaths · 1,700 houses destroyed · 138 km
• December 17, 1096, Enshunada, JapanM8.4 · 400 deaths · 119 km
• August 19, 1830, Kyoto, Japan280 deaths · 158 km

Significant earthquakes of 1520The 1500sRecent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history

Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 5951.