Japan sits on the crossroads of several continental and oceanic plates. The 1923 Great Kanto earthquake (approximately 8.2 magnitude) shook two densely populated cities, Tokyo and Yokohama, causing approximately 130,000 fatalities. More recently, the 1995 Kobe quake killed over 6,000 people in 1995.
Some scientists fear that the Tokai/Suruga Bay region, located along the country’s Pacific coast, southwest of Tokyo, is due for a tremor with a magnitude of 8 or higher, as the Philippine plate is inching underneath the Eurasian plate, forming a subduction zone. Tokai last ruptured in 1854, and before that in 1707. Is another mega-quake just around the corner?