2008 Iwate-Miyagi Nairiku earthquake

Earthquake
title=Iwate-Miyagi Nairiku Earthquake in 2008
date= June 14 2008 (JST)

---

magnitude = M_j 7.2 (JMA scale), M_w 6.9 (by USGS)
depth=convert|8|km|mi|0 (JMA), convert|10|km|mi|0 (USGS)
aftershocks=483 felt aftershocks by July 1 (JMA)
Laragest: M_j 5.7 on June 14 ( 9:20 JST)
location=coord|39|01.7|N|140|52.8|E|display=inline,title
(Iwate Prefecture)
countries affected = JPN / Tōhoku region
tsunami = none
casualties = at least 12 dead, 436 injured (As of 2008-07-01 17:00 JST)The 2008 Iwate earthquake on June 14, 2008 mainly struck mid Tōhoku region, northeastern Honshū, Japan. [http://www.seisvol.kishou.go.jp/cgi-bin/shindo_db.cgi?from_YYYY=2008&from_MM=06&from_DD=14&from_hh=08&from_mm=00&to_YYYY=2008&to_MM=06&to_DD=14&to_hh=12&to_mm=00&ORG_PID=14516&pref=0&minimum_shindo=1&max_count=50&PARAM_OK_DATE=%B8%A1%BA%F7%BC%C2%B9%D4 Result] of searching the database of felt earthquakes run by [http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/indexe.html Japan Meteorological Agency] .(Japanese)] Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) officially named this earthquake nihongo|the Iwate-Miyagi Nairiku Earthquake in 2008|平成20年（2008年）岩手・宮城内陸地震|. [cite news
url=http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/press/0806/14b/200806141110.html
title=2008年6月14日08時43分ころの岩手県内陸南部の地震について（第2報）
date=2008-06-14
accessdate=2008-06-14
publisher= [http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/indexe.html Japan Meteorological Agency]
language=Japanese]

This earthquake occurred in the south of the inland of Iwate Prefecture at 8:43 JST on Saturday morning, June 14 (23:43 UTC on June 13).cite news
url=http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/press/0806/14d/h20iwate-miyagi-4.html
title=「平成20年（2008年）岩手・宮城内陸地震」について（第４報）
date=2008-06-14
accessdate=2008-06-18
publisher= [http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/indexe.html Japan Meteorological Agency]
language=Japanese] The JMA magnitude was estimated at M_j 7.2, andthe moment magnitude by USGS was at M_w 6.9cite news
url=http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/eqinthenews/2008/us2008tfdp/
title=Magnitude 6.9 - EASTERN HONSHU, JAPAN
date=2008-06-14
publisher=U.S. Geological SurveyRetrieved on 2008-06-18 (10:30 UTC).(English)] . The epicenter was located at coord|39|01.7|N|140|52.8|E, about 85 kilometres (55 mi) north of Sendai and about 385 kilometres (240 mi) north-northeast of Tokyo [Calculation tool: [http://vldb.gsi.go.jp/sokuchi/surveycalc/bl2stf.html "距離と方位角の計算"] , offered by [http://www.gsi.go.jp/ENGLISH/index.html Geographical Survey Institute] . Retrieved on 2008-06-18.(Japanese)] .

The strongest shakings were measured in the cities of Ōshū (Iwate) and Kurihara (Miyagi), both at [http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/kishou/know/shindo/explane.html 6 Upper] of JMA nihongo|seismic intensity|震度|shindo.

eismic intensity

A nihongo|seismic intensity|震度|shindo represents the strength of ground motion. JMA uses the scales of [http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/kishou/know/shindo/explane.html 0 to 7] : 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Lower, 5 Upper, 6 Lower, 6 Upper, 7. Tremors of this earthquake were felt widely over regions.

As to strongly shaken areas:

6 Upper: :Iwate Pref. - City of Ōshū (奥州市). :Miyagi Pref. - City of Kurihara (栗原市). 6 Lower: :Iwate Pref. - City of Ōshū (奥州市). :Miyagi Pref. - Cities of Kurihara (栗原市) and Ōsaki (大崎市). 5 Upper: :Iwate Pref. - Cities of Ōshū (奥州市), Kitakami (北上市), Ichinoseki (一関市), Towns of Kanegasaki (金ケ崎町) and Hiraizumi (平泉町). :Miyagi Pref. - Cities of Kurihara (栗原市), Ōsaki (大崎市), Sendai (仙台市), Tome (登米市), Natori (名取市), Towns of Misato (美里町), Wakuya (涌谷町), Kami (加美町), and Rifu (利府町). :Akita Pref. - City of Yuzawa (湯沢市), and Village of Higashinaruse (東成瀬村).

Tectonics

According to the USGS:

The Mw 6.8 Honshu earthquake of June 13th 2008 occurred in a region of convergence between the Pacific Plate and the Okhotsk section of the North American Plate in northern Japan, where the Pacific plate is moving west-northwest with respect to North America at a rate of approximately 8.3 cm/yr. The hypocenter of the earthquake indicates shallow thrusting motion in the upper (Okhotsk) plate, above the subducting Pacific plate, which lies at approximately 80 km depth at this location.

The earthquake occurred in a region of upper-plate contraction, probably within the complicated tectonics of the Ou Backbone Range, known to have hosted several large earthquakes in historic times. The largest of these events occurred in 1896, approximately 70km north of the June 13th event, and killed over 200 people in the local area.

Aftershocks

According to JMA: [cite news
url=http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/press/0806/23a/kaisetsu200806231030.pdf
title=「平成20 年（2008 年）岩手・宮城内陸地震」について（第８報）
date=2008-06-23
accessdate=2008-07-01
publisher= [http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/indexe.html Japan Meteorological Agency]
language=Japanese] [cite news
url=http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/press/0806/26a/kaisetsu200806261030.pdf
title=「平成20 年（2008 年）岩手・宮城内陸地震」について（第９報）
date=2008-06-26
accessdate=2008-07-01
publisher= [http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/indexe.html Japan Meteorological Agency]
language=Japanese] cite news
url=http://www.seisvol.kishou.go.jp/eq/2008_06_14_iwate-miyagi/yukan.pdf
title=「平成20年（2008年）岩手・宮城内陸地震」の余震回数
date=2008-07-02
publisher= [http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/indexe.html Japan Meteorological Agency] As of 2008-07-02 ( 5:00 JST) .(Japanese)]

Aftershocks of this earthquake have appeared more active compared to Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995, but they have been becoming less in frequency.

Over 200 felt aftershocks were observed in the first 24 hours, about 400 in total in the first seven days. The largest ones (with M_j5.0 or greater) were:June 14, 9:20: M_j5.7: Max. seismic intensity reached 5 Lower; :June 14, 12:27: M_j5.2: Max. seismic intensity reached 4; :June 16, 23:14: M_j5.3: Max. seismic intensity reached 4. Since June 21 by July 1, four to 12 felt aftershocks were observed each day, with seismic intensities measured at 3 at maximum.

ubsequent earthquakes

The following is a list of earthquakes greater than 4.0 M_w that occurred in the five days following the 2008 Iwate earthquake. Aftershocks measured 6.0 M_w or over are in bold.

Effects

Landslides

Landslides triggered by this earthquake crushed structures, buried people, cut off road traffics, isolated local communities. [cite news
url=http://mainichi.jp/select/jiken/20080614/archive/news/2008/06/14/20080615k0000m040071000c.html
title=岩手・宮城内陸地震：６人死亡、１５５人負傷　不明１１人
date=2008-06-14
publisher=THE MAINICHI NEWSPAPERSLast updated on 2008-06-15 (9:55 JST).(Japanese)] Mud from landslides dammed up rivers to form lakes, so called nihongo|"quake lakes"|せき止め湖|sekitomeko. [cite news
url=http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/archive/news/2008/06/17/20080617p2a00m0na018000c.html
title=Rush to drain 'quake lakes' in Tohoku
date=2008-06-17
accessdate=2008-06-19
publisher=Mainichi Daily News
language=English]

By June 19, Ministry of Land found fifteen quake lakes in Iwate and Miyagi prefectures [cite news
url=http://www.mlit.go.jp/report/press/river03_hh_000052.html
title=平成２０年岩手・宮城内陸地震により発生した河道閉塞（天然ダム）箇所について
date=2008-06-19
accessdate=2008-06-19
publisher= Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
language=Japanese] , and began drain works at three of them carrying high risk of overflow or burst by another rain or aftershock [(This article will remain less than a month.) cite news
url= http://www.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/19_18.html
title= Water being pumped out of quake lakes
date=2008-06-19
accessdate=2008-06-19
publisher=NHK
language=English] [cite news
url=http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/t10015356561000.html
title=宮城 せき止め湖仮排水路工事
date=2008-06-19
accessdate=2008-06-19
publisher=NHK
language=Japanese] .

=Human da

By 17:50 JST, June 25, twelve people were confirmed dead and 358 injured, and ten still missing.cite news
url=http://www.fdma.go.jp/data/010805251825409149.pdf
title=平成２０年（２００８年）岩手・宮城内陸地震（第５１報）
date=2008-06-25
publisher=Fire and Disaster Management AgencyAs of 2008-06-25 (17:50 JST).(Japanese)]
*In City of Kurihara, Miyagi Pref., five people were buried dead at a hot-spring inn of "Komanoyu" spa crushed by a landslide, which had standed on the mountainside of Mt. Kurikoma. [cite news
url= http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/feature/20080614-2892868/news/20080614-OYT1T00690.htm
title=秘湯の宿、瓦礫からうめき声…「駒ノ湯温泉」捜索難航
date=2008-06-15
accessdate=2008-06-21
publisher=The Yomiuri Shimbun
language=Japanese] They were: a woman aged 80 who had co-managed with her husband the inn, his son aged 58, a woman aged 75 who had worked at the inn, a tourism consultant aged 48, and an attendant of the Railway Museum aged 35. [cite news
url=http://www.asahi.com/special/08006/TKY200806150185.html
title=鉄道愛し、地域に尽くした　駒の湯温泉宿泊者
date=2008-06-15
accessdate=2008-06-21
publisher=The Asahi Shimbun Company
language=Japanese] [cite news
url=http://www.asahi.com/special/08006/TKY200806160227.html
title=男性遺体は経営者の長男　駒の湯温泉
date=2008-06-17
accessdate=2008-06-21
publisher=The Asahi Shimbun Company
language=Japanese] [cite news
url=http://www.asahi.com/special/08006/TKY200806180266.html
title=旅館手伝い女性の遺体を発見　駒の湯温泉で捜索隊
date=2008-06-18
accessdate=2008-06-21
publisher=The Asahi Shimbun Company
language=Japanese]
*In City of Kurihara, along Route 398, three workers aged 54, 53, 32, setting a proof net against rockfall on a hillside, were overwhelmed by a landslide to death.cite news
url=http://www.asahi.com/special/08006/TKY200806140106.html
title=岩手・宮城地震　死者６人、行方不明１１人に
date=2008-06-14
accessdate=2008-06-21
publisher=The Asahi Shimbun Company
language=Japanese] [cite news
url=http://www.asahi.com/special/08006/TKY200806140259.html
title=作業員３人生き埋め　２人の死亡確認　栗原市花山
date=2008-06-14
accessdate=2008-06-21
publisher=The Asahi Shimbun Company
language=Japanese] [cite news
url=http://www.asahi.com/special/08006/TKY200806200253.html
title=１遺体発見　死者１２人・不明１０人に　岩手・宮城地震
date=2008-06-21
accessdate=2008-06-21
publisher=The Asahi Shimbun Company
language=Japanese]
*Also in City of Kurihara, along Route 398, a person aged 59 was buried dead in a car carried away by a landslide. [cite news
url=http://www.asahi.com/special/08006/TKY200806150186.html
title=対面の親族「実感ない」　湯浜温泉近くで死亡の男性
date=2008-06-15
accessdate=2008-06-21
publisher=The Asahi Shimbun Company
language=Japanese]
*At a dam construction site in City of Ōshū, Iwate Pref., a worker aged 48 was struck by rockfall to death.
*In City of Ichinoseki, Iwate Pref., a person aged 60 was surprised by the tremor to get out on the road and struck by a truck to death.
*In City of Iwaki, Fukushima Pref., near a fishing port, a person aged 55 was struck by rockfall while fishing to fall into the sea to death.
*In City of Ōshū, a landslide caused people to become temporarily trapped in an overturned bus. [cite news
url=http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/06/14/UPI_NewsTrack_TopNews/UPI-51781213481661
title=Japanese quake leaves at least six dead
date=2008-06-14
accessdate=2008-06-19
publisher= United Press International, Inc.
language=English] Eight among 20 were injured, including one critically and five seriouslycite news
url=http://mainichi.jp/select/jiken/20080614/archive/news/2008/06/14/20080615k0000m040055000c.html
title=岩手・宮城内陸地震：バスが沢に転落、１人重体　奥州市
date=2008-06-14
publisher=THE MAINICHI NEWSPAPERSLast updated on 2008-06-14 (21:04 JST).(Japanese)] . The bus was running when overturned, and ten passengers escaped, prompted by the driver; then an aftershock made it slip down slowly into the stream until it was caught on some trees. An escaper walked out for the mobile phone to catch signals and made an emergency call.

Electric power supply

There were no shutdowns of nuclear power plants following this earthquakecite news
url=http://www.meti.go.jp/press/20080614008/8ho.pdf
title=平成２０年岩手・宮城内陸地震被害情報（第８報）（６月１４日１７時００現在）
date=2008-06-14
publisher= Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, Ministry of Economy, Trade and IndustryAs of 2008-06-14 (17:00 JST).(Japanese)] like those in the 2007 Chūetsu offshore earthquake case. Some water was found to have splashed out in the Fukushima II Nuclear Power Plant, possibly but not necessarily due to the tremor; nothing radioactive was released to the environment. [cite news
url=http://mainichi.jp/select/jiken/20080614/archive/news/2008/06/15/20080615ddm002040076000c.html
title=岩手・宮城内陸地震：原発で水漏れ　外部に影響なし
date=2008-06-15
accessdate=2008-06-20
publisher=THE MAINICHI NEWSPAPERS
language= Japanese]

Expressways and railways

Expressways in Tōhoku region were closed in several sections, all reopened by nighttime, barring traffic restrictions in one section for repair work. [cite news
url=http://www.e-nexco.co.jp/pressroom/press_release/tohoku/h20/0614/
title=平成20年 岩手・宮城内陸地震で発生した高速道路の被害状況等について（第8報 最終）
date=2008-06-14
accessdate=2008-06-18
publisher= East Nippon Expressway Company Limited
language=Japanese]

Some train services by JR East were suspended on Shinkansen and local lines, and resumed on the following day from the first scheduled trains. [cite news
url= http://mainichi.jp/select/jiken/20080614/archive/news/2008/06/15/20080616k0000m040050000c.html
title=岩手・宮城地震：１５日始発からすべて運行…ＪＲ東日本
date=2008-06-15
publisher=THE MAINICHI NEWSPAPERSLast updated on 2008-06-15 (21:05 JST).(Japanese)]

On Tōhoku Shinkansen, all running trains, about 20, were stopped by an earthquake detection system; most were led to the nearest stations.cite news
url=http://sankei.jp.msn.com/affairs/disaster/080614/dst0806141931068-n1.htm
title=【岩手・宮城内陸地震】「脱線せず」はＪＲの対策が奏功か　震源からの距離も影響？
date=2008-06-14
accessdate=2008-06-18
publisher=The Sankei Shimbun
language=Japanese] However, about 2,000 passengers were temporarily trapped inside three trainscite news
url=http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/archive/news/2008/06/14/20080614p2a00m0na015000c.html
title=2,000 passengers trapped in bullet trains, 20,000 households lose power after quake
date=2008-06-14
accessdate=2008-06-18
publisher=Mainichi Daily News
language=English] before being evacuated up to nine and a half hours later cite news
url=http://mainichi.jp/select/jiken/20080614/archive/news/2008/06/14/20080615k0000m040063000c.html
title=岩手・宮城内陸地震：新幹線に９時間半閉じ込め　道路寸断
date=2008-06-14
publisher=THE MAINICHI NEWSPAPERSLast updated on 2008-06-15 (0:27 JST).(Japanese)] , because the trains were forced to stay for equipment inspections of the line.

Suspensions on Tōhoku, Akita, Yamagata Shinkansen and delays on Jōetsu, Nagano Shinkansen reportedly involved 117,000 passengers. No derailment was triggered.

References