REVIEW OF HISTORICAL DAMAGES DUE TO INTERMEDIATE AND DEEP FOCUS EARTHQUAKES

Abstract

Historical damages due to intermediate and deep focus earthquakes are reviewed on the basis of earthquake catalogs in past 100 vears. These earthquakes occurred at North-Eastern and South-Western parts of the Japan islands at a rate of 4 to 5 times per year. The earthquake catalogs indicate that only the intermediate depth earthquakes, with magnitude exceeding 7.5 and focal depth shallower than 150 km, caused destructive damages. However, the damage rank is lower than the typical interplate earthquakes along the Japan trench such as the 1968 Tokachi-oki earthquake (M=7.9).