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FACTBOX-Japan and earthquakes

25 Mar 2007 06:24:40 GMT
Source: Reuters

March 25 (Reuters) - A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 jolted the west coast of central Japan on Sunday, killing one person, injuring more than 150 and damaging hundreds of homes, Japanese officials and media said.

Following are some facts about Japan and earthquakes.

* Japan, situated on the "Ring of Fire" arc of volcanoes and oceanic trenches that partly encircles the Pacific Basin, accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.

* A tremor occurs in Japan at least every five minutes, and each year there are up to 2,000 quakes that can be felt by people.

* The Great Kanto earthquake of Sept. 1, 1923, which had a magnitude of 7.9, killed more than 140,000 people in the Tokyo area. Seismologists have said another such quake could strike the city at any time.

* On Jan. 16, 1995, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 hit central Japan, devastating the western port city of Kobe. The worst earthquake to hit Japan in 50 years killed more than 6,400 and caused an estimated $100 billion in damage. * On Oct. 23, 2004, a 6.8 magnitude quake struck the Niigata region, about 250 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, killing 65 people and injuring 3,000. * The Tokyo metropolitan government said in March 2006 that a magnitude 7.3 earthquake under Tokyo would probably kill more than 5,600 people and injure almost 160,000. Official estimates of economic damage have topped more than $1 trillion.

* In a report published in 2004, German insurer Munich Re was even more pessimistic, saying a severe earthquake in the Tokyo-Yokohama area would kill hundreds of thousands of people, cause damage running into trillions of dollars and have global economic repercussions.

* The Tokyo-Yokohama metropolis, with a population of 35 million, has the highest "at risk" rating from natural disasters such as earthquakes of any of the world's 30 "megacities", the report said.

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Last updated:Sun Mar 25 06:25:16 2007