2000 Tottori earthquake

What Happened

At 13:30:20 local time on 6 October 2000, a magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck western Tottori Prefecture in Japan. The epicentre lay at coordinates 35.27°N, 133.31°E, in the town of Nambu, close to the border with Yasugi in neighbouring Shimane Prefecture. The shaking reached a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme).

The quake injured at least 182 people. It damaged or destroyed 109,095 homes, and total damage was estimated at about $150 million. The towns of Yonago and Matsue, the main population centres of the region, were among the areas affected.

The event occurred during the Heisei period (1989–2019), in the twelfth year of the Heisei era.

Background

Tottori Prefecture sits on the western end of Honshu, the largest of the Japanese islands, along the Sea of Japan coast. The region is seismically active, and the 2000 event is known in Japanese as the 鳥取県西部地震 — the "Western Tottori Prefecture Earthquake" — a name that distinguishes it from other earthquakes that have struck the prefecture.

The epicentre was located inland, near Nambu and the Shimane border, rather than offshore. This placed the strongest shaking directly beneath populated areas, which is why a magnitude 6.7 event produced such widespread damage to housing. The figure of 109,095 homes damaged or destroyed reflects both the intensity of the shaking and the construction of the region's housing stock at the time.

The earthquake struck at 13:30 in the afternoon, when many residents were away from home or otherwise occupied, a detail that shaped the casualty profile: injuries numbered in the low hundreds rather than the thousands.

Why It Mattered

The 2000 Tottori earthquake was one of the most damaging inland earthquakes to strike Japan during the Heisei period. Its magnitude of 6.7 and its Mercalli intensity of X placed it among the stronger events recorded in the region, and the damage toll — over 109,000 homes affected and roughly $150 million in losses — made it a significant disaster for western Honshu.

Because the epicentre was inland and near the prefectural border, the earthquake affected both Tottori and Shimane Prefectures. Yonago and Matsue, the principal cities of the area, experienced strong shaking. The event demonstrated how a moderate-magnitude inland earthquake, occurring directly beneath populated areas, can cause damage on a scale usually associated with larger offshore events.

The earthquake also became a reference point for seismic hazard assessment in western Japan, where the boundary between the Eurasian and Philippine Sea plates produces frequent activity. Its date, location, and damage figures are recorded in Japanese disaster archives and in the historical record of the Heisei era.

The Name in Japanese

The Japanese name of the earthquake is 鳥取県西部地震. Its kana reading is とっとりけんせいぶじしん, and its romaji is Tottori-ken Seibu Jishin. The name translates literally as "Tottori Prefecture Western Earthquake."

Breaking the name down character by character:

• 鳥 (とり, tori) — "bird." This is the first character of 鳥取.
• 取 (とり, tori) — "take" or "catch." Together, 鳥取 (Tottori) is the name of the prefecture. The place name is traditionally explained as referring to bird-catching, though the characters function simply as a proper noun here.
• 県 (けん, ken) — "prefecture." Japan's 47 subnational jurisdictions are called 県 (or 都, 道, 府 for Tokyo, Hokkaido, Osaka and Kyoto). 鳥取県 is Tottori Prefecture.
• 西 (せい, sei) — "west." In this compound it takes the Sino-Japanese reading sei rather than the native Japanese reading nishi.
• 部 (ぶ, bu) — "part" or "section." Combined with 西, the compound 西部 (seibu) means "western part" or "the west."
• 地 (じ, ji) — "ground" or "earth."
• 震 (しん, shin) — "shake" or "quake." Together, 地震 (jishin) is the standard Japanese word for "earthquake."

So the full name parses as 鳥取県 (Tottori Prefecture) + 西部 (western part) + 地震 (earthquake): the earthquake of the western part of Tottori Prefecture. Note that 地震 is read jishin in isolation; in the full name, the shin of 震 follows the ji of 地 smoothly, and the compound is voiced as jishin throughout.

For learners, the name is a useful example of how Japanese place-based disaster names are built: a place name, a directional or locational modifier, and the type of event. The same pattern appears in names such as 北海道南西沖地震 (Hokkaido South-West Offshore Earthquake) and 兵庫県南部地震 (Hyōgo Prefecture Southern Earthquake).

Key Figures

• Date: 6 October 2000
• Time: 13:30:20 local time
• Magnitude: 6.7
• Maximum Mercalli intensity: X (Extreme)
• Epicentre: 35.27°N, 133.31°E, in Nambu, Tottori Prefecture, near the border with Yasugi, Shimane Prefecture
• Injuries: at least 182
• Homes damaged or destroyed: 109,095
• Estimated damage: about $150 million
• Japanese period: Heisei (1989–2019), year 12 of the era