January 1, 2024 Earthquake: Ishikawa, Honshu, Japan

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Tectonic Summary

The January 1, 2024, M7.5 earthquake on the west coast of Japan, on the island of Honshu, occurred as a result of shallow reverse faulting in the Earth’s crust. Focal mechanism solutions for the earthquake indicate faulting occurred on a moderately dipping reverse fault striking to the southwest or northeast. Japan is a seismically active region, with most earthquakes occurring off the east coast, where the Pacific plate subducts beneath Japan. This earthquake occurred on the west coast of Japan where crustal deformation created by the broader plate motions is accommodated in shallow faults. Shallow earthquakes cause more damage than intermediate- and deep-focus ones since the energy generated by the shallow events is released closer to the surface and therefore produces stronger shaking relative to earthquakes located deeper within the Earth. This coastal earthquake produced both strong shaking on land and generated a tsunami.

While earthquakes are common in Japan, the region surrounding the January 1, 2024, earthquake sees lower rates of seismicity as compared to the major subduction zone along its east coast. Still, since 1900, 30 other M6 and larger earthquakes have occurred within 250 km of the January 1 event. Three of these occurred on or near the Noto Peninsula, where the January 1 event is located. On May 5, 2023, a M6.2 earthquake on the Noto Peninsula killed one person and damaged hundreds of buildings. On April 16, 1964, a M7.6 occurred 205 km east-northeast of the January 1 event, resulting in 36 fatalities and roughly 3,500 destroyed homes.

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549 deaths (Prefecture: 541 Ishikawa, 5 Niigata, 3 Toyama ). Breakdown of fatalities: Niigata City 4, Joetsu City 1, Toyama City 1, Takaoka City 2, Nanao City 47, Komatsu City 1, Wajima City 196, Suzu City 161, Hakui 5, Hakusan City 1, Uchinada Town 5, Shiga Town 19, Nakanoto Town 2, Anamizu Town 46, Noto Town 58.

2 missing. 1393 injuries.

Houses damages: 6,483 complete destruction; 23,458 partial destruction; 133,758 partly damaged; 6 inundated above floor level, 19 inundated below floor level.

Damages non-residential buildings: 38,279

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The survey also found that the ground rose at several points along the coast. It rose about 25 centimeters at Akasaki harbor The ground was elevated by over 3 meters at multiple locations about 10 kilometers to the north.It rose about 3.9 meters at Kaiso fishing harbor in Wajima City and about 4.1 meters at another port in the city about 5 kilometers to the north.

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Japan's Cabinet Office has estimated the cost of damage from the magnitude-7.6 earthquake that hit on New Year's Day to reach a maximum 2.6 trillion yen, or about 17.6 billion dollars. Damage in Ishikawa Prefecture is estimated to amount to 8.8 billion dollars at most and in Toyama up to 3.4 billion dollars. Damage in Niigata is likely to cost up to 6 billion dollars.

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The January 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake was reported to cause hundreds of terrestrial landslides

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The Mj 7.6 earthquake on the Noto Peninsula of Japan occurred at 16:10 local time on January 1, 2024. The epicenter was located 42 km north−east of Anamizu Town in Hōsu District, Ishikawa Prefecture, with a focal depth of 16 km. This earthquake was a typical reverse faulting activity […] The co-seismic displacement near the epicenter reached one meter level, with a horizontal displacement of 1.2 m and a vertical uplift deformation of 1.1 m observed at the Wajima measurement point […] intensity of 10 or higher on USGS Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) scale […] this earthquake is the largest scale earthquake observed in the Noto region since 1885.

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$15 billion in damages