Following a series of moderate (Mw4.0-6.3) earthquakes across
north-western Japan during 2023, this year started with a shallow
Mw7.5 earthquake off the coast of the Noto peninsula. WTW Research
Network summarises the key details.
Technical details
The earthquake struck at 07:10 UTC (16:10 local time, JST) on
Monday 1st January 2024, 7km north-west of Suzu and 30km
north-east of the city of Wajima, located on the Noto Peninsula of
Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. According to the USGS, the epicentre was located at 37.50°N
137.24°E, at a depth of 10km. The event occurred along a
moderately dipping ~150km long reverse-fault striking to the
north-east, along the convergent boundary between the Amurian and
Okhotsk Plates. The largest event has a moment magnitude of Mw7.5,
and highest Modified Mercalli shaking intensity (MMI) of IX
(violent) centred around and to the south-west of the epicentre.
Peak Ground Acceleration exceeded 1g (Peak Ground Velocity
>1m/s) where these