Since the new fiscal year began, earthquakes have been occurring one after another in various regions. On the 3rd, an earthquake with an epicenter near Taiwan caused a tsunami in Okinawa. The area has suffered extensive damage from the violent shaking of "intensity 6-plus." Furthermore, on the morning of the 8th, an earthquake with a maximum seismic intensity of 5-less occurred in Miyazaki Prefecture. The earthquakes in Taiwan and Miyazaki have one thing in common: the Philippine Sea Plate. Hiromichi Nakahama, Disaster Desk, Social Affairs Department, explains. [Weekly Earthquake News] Read the article on this video > https://news.ntv.co.jp/category/socie... ■ "Maximum seismic intensity 5-less" in Miyazaki Near the epicenter is the "Nankai Trough Earthquake Expected Epicenter Area" At around 10:25 a.m. on April 8th, an earthquake with an epicenter off the east coast of the Osumi Peninsula occurred, with a seismic intensity of 5-less in Nichinan City, Miyazaki Prefecture, and seismic intensity 4 in Kushima City, Osaki Town, and Kinko Town in Kagoshima Prefecture. The magnitude of the earthquake, which indicates the scale of the earthquake, was 5.1, and the depth of the epicenter was 39 kilometers. The epicenter of this earthquake is right next to the expected epicenter of the "Nankai Trough Mega-Earthquake," which is feared to occur in the future. Experts believe that the impact of this earthquake on the Nankai Trough Mega-Earthquake will be small because the epicenter of this earthquake is outside the expected epicenter and the magnitude of the earthquake that occurred was small. However, the Japan Meteorological Agency is calling for people to be on the lookout for earthquakes of the same magnitude for the next week or so. ■ 51 earthquakes of "intensity 5-weak" and intensity 1 or higher occurred in Japan. 51 earthquakes of intensity 1 or higher occurred in Japan from April 1st to 7th. ▼ At around 4:24 am on the 2nd, an earthquake with a strong intensity of 5-weak was observed in nine cities and towns, including Hachinohe City, Aomori Prefecture, and Miyako City, Iwate Prefecture. The epicenter was in the northern coast of Iwate Prefecture, with a magnitude of 6.0 and a depth of 71 km. This is the first earthquake of magnitude 6 or higher to occur off the coast of Iwate Prefecture since the earthquake in January 1987, when an intensity 5 earthquake was observed in Morioka and Ofunato. ▼Around 5:24pm on the 2nd, there was an earthquake with a seismic intensity of 3 in Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture. The epicenter was in the Noto region of Ishikawa Prefecture, the magnitude was 3.7, and the depth of the epicenter was 8km. ▼Around 8:58am on the 3rd, there was an earthquake with a seismic intensity of 4 in Yonaguni Town, Okinawa Prefecture, and a seismic intensity of 3 in Ishigaki City and Taketomi Town. The epicenter was near Taiwan, the magnitude indicated by the magnitude was 7.7, and the depth of the epicenter was 23km. ▼Around 10:56am on the 3rd, there was an earthquake with a seismic intensity of 3 in Anamizu Town, Ishikawa Prefecture. The epicenter was in the Noto region of Ishikawa Prefecture, the magnitude was 3.6, and the depth of the epicenter was 10km. ▼Around 12:34pm on the 3rd, there was an earthquake with a seismic intensity of 3 in Wakaba Ward and Chonan Town, Chiba City, the epicenter was in northeastern Chiba Prefecture, the magnitude was 3.7, and the depth of the epicenter was 29km. ▼Around 12:16 p.m. on the 4th, an earthquake with a seismic intensity of 4 was observed in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture and Soma City, Fukushima Prefecture. The epicenter was off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture, with a magnitude of 6.3 and a depth of 44 km. ▼Around 5:32 a.m. on the 5th, an earthquake with a seismic intensity of 3 occurred in Atsuma Town and Urakawa Town, Hokkaido. The epicenter was off the coast of Urakawa, with a magnitude of 5.0 and a depth of 66 km. ▼Around 9:12 a.m. on the 6th, an earthquake with a seismic intensity of 3 occurred in Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture. The epicenter was off the east coast of Aomori Prefecture, with a magnitude of 5.5, indicating the scale of the earthquake, and a depth of 17 km. ■Expected height of 3 meters, tsunami warning issued for Okinawa Around 8:58 a.m. on the 3rd, an earthquake with an epicenter near Taiwan caused seismic intensity 4 in Yonaguni Town, Okinawa Prefecture, and seismic intensity 3 in Ishigaki City and Taketomi Town in Japan. The epicenter was near Taiwan, and the magnitude of the earthquake was 7.7, with a depth of 23 km. The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami warning for the Miyakojima/Yaeyama region and the main island of Okinawa (expected height 3 meters), and observed a 30 cm tsunami in Kubura, Yonagunijima and Hirara, Miyakojima, and a 20 cm tsunami in Ishigaki Port. ■ Shaking observed in various parts of Taiwan In Hualien, close to the epicenter, it was “intensity 6+” This is the seismic intensity observed in various parts of Taiwan, announced by the Central Weather Administration, Taiwan's equivalent of the Japan Meteorological Agency. Shaking was observed in almost the entire area, and in Hualien County, close to the epicenter, it was intensity 6+ or 6-. In addition, shaking of intensity 5- was observed mainly in the eastern part of the island. Taiwan's seismic intensity scale is the same as Japan's, ranging from intensity 0 to intensity 7, with intensity 5 and 6 each being graded into 10 levels. Taiwanese authorities announced that the magnitude of the earthquake was 7.2. ■Taiwan, located on the border between the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian Plate Taiwan has been hit by repeated large earthquakes, including the Taiwan earthquake in September 1999, which killed more than 2,400 people. While the Philippine Sea Plate is subducting under the land plate from the east, the land plate is also subducting in the southern part of Taiwan, making the island's geology extremely complex. The central part of the island is lined with mountains over 3,000 meters above sea level, and there are many faults and earthquakes occur frequently. Last week, the Japan Meteorological Agency held a study group on the Nankai Trough earthquake. Taiwan is located on the western edge of the Philippine Sea Plate, which causes the Nankai Trough mega-earthquake, but because Taiwan is far from the expected epicenter of the Nankai Trough mega-earthquake and there has been no change in the observation data of research institutions in Japan, it is believed that the Taiwan mega-earthquake will not affect the Nankai Trough mega-earthquake. ■Aftershock activity has been distributed to the north since the Taiwan mega-earthquake This is the situation of earthquakes that have occurred in Taiwan since 2014. It can be seen that many earthquakes have occurred, especially on the east coast of Taiwan. Since the big earthquake on the 3rd, aftershock activity has been concentrated to the north. ■ Immediately after the earthquake, a "comfortable evacuation shelter" was set up Large tents were neatly lined up inside an evacuation shelter in Hualien City, which suffered heavy damage. The shelters are designed to protect the private space of evacuees, and each tent can accommodate up to six people. Wi-Fi is available, and there is also a space outside where you can have hot meals. This well-equipped evacuation shelter was already being set up on the day of the earthquake. Earthquake expert Fujio Kusano of the Institute for Environmental Disaster Prevention and Policy Research said, "The evacuation shelters are run with care to make evacuees as comfortable as possible, and the movement toward recovery, such as the rapid removal of collapsed buildings, is swift. We have a lot to learn from them." (Broadcast on April 8, 2024) ◇The "NTV NEWS Club" membership has begun. 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