Two tsunamis were generated off Kikai Island on October 18 and 19, 1995, after 84 year's silence since the 1911 Amami-Oshima earthquake (
M=8.0). Inundation heights at Kikai Island were ranging 1-3 meters above M. S. L. According to JMA, the epicenters of the main shock and the largest aftershock were located at 28°02′N, 130°23′E and 28°07′N, 130°17′E with earthquake magnitudes,
M=6.7 and
M=6.6, respectively. The source area of the tsunami of 18th which nearly corresponds to the aftershock area is 60×35km, extending along the Ryukyu Trench. Tsunami magnitudes on the Imamura-Iida scale are estimated to be
m=1 and
m=0, respectively, by judging from the diagram of the attenuation of wave-height with distance. The magnitudes of those tsunamis exceed by two grades (tsunami height: about 5 times) larger than those generated by the earthquakes with the same magnitude and similar size in other regions. It suggests high-angle faulting mechanism, causing a larger deformation of sea bottom. The velocity of the maximum wave propagated along the Ryukyu Islands to central Japan is 376km/h which is a little slower than those of the tsunamis along the Mariana Trench.
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