December 20, 1711 Earthquake: Seionaikai, Japan
A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck Seionaikai, Japan on December 20, 1711. It killed 1,000 people.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- December 20, 1711
- Place
- Seionaikai, Japan
- Magnitude
- 6.7 (Ms)
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 34.300° N, 134.000° E
- Country
- Japan
- Region
- East Asia
The toll
- Deaths
- 1,000
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 1,713
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.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
An earthquake occurred at Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture; 1,713 homes were destroyed; about 1,000 people died. About 30 recurrent shocks were recorded in the following 24 hours. Ten tsunami waves were observed during the day. (reference #414)
More than 1,000 deaths and 1,713 houses wrecked in Takamatsu area, Kagara Prefecture. (reference #150)
Sources NCEI cites
The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.
- #150 Iida, Kumizi (1984). Catalog of tsunamis in Japan and its neighboring countries. Aichi Institute of Technology, Yachigusa, Yakusa-cho, Toyota-shi, 470-03, Japan, 52 p.
- #414 Soloviev, S.L., and Ch.N. Go (1974). A catalogue of tsunamis on the western shore of the Pacific Ocean [dates include 173-1968. Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Nauka Publishing House, Moscow, 439 p. [Canadian Translation of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences no. 5077, 1984, translation available from Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information, National Research Council, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A OS2, 447 p.]
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- January 16, 1995, Kobe, Awaji-Shima, Nishinomiya, SW Honshu, Japan
- October 28, 1707, Nankaido, Japan
- February 3, 1605, Nankaido, Japan
- March 7, 1927, SW, Honshu, Japan
- December 24, 1854, Nankaido, Japan
- September 10, 1943, S, Honshu, Japan
- July 9, 1854, Iga, Ise, Yamato, Japan
- March 14, 1872, SW, Honshu, Japan
- August 3, 1361, Nankaido, Japan
- May 23, 1925, Tajima, Honshu, Japan
- August 19, 1830, Kyoto, Japan
- June 2, 1905, Aki, Japan
- July 12, 1676, Tuwano, Japan
- June 17, 2018, Osaka, Japan
- March 19, 1711, Mimasaka, Japan
More
Significant earthquakes of 1711The 1700sRecent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
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 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 5995.