2024 Noto earthquake

What Happened

On 1 January 2024, at 16:10:09 JST (07:10:09 UTC), a magnitude 7.6 earthquake on the Japanese meteorological agency scale (MJMA7.6; Mw7.5) struck 6 km (3.7 mi) north-northeast of Suzu, a town on the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture. The shock was a reverse-faulting event, meaning the crust was pushed together along a fault plane, and it produced the highest level on Japan's seismic intensity scale, Shindo 7, as well as a Modified Mercalli intensity of X–XI (Extreme).

The shaking and the tsunami that followed caused widespread destruction across the Noto Peninsula, hitting the towns of Suzu, Wajima, Noto, and Anamizu especially hard. Damage also extended into Toyama and Niigata prefectures. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued Japan's first major tsunami warning since the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, and a tsunami measuring 11.3 m (37 ft) was recorded at Wajima.

Background

The Noto Peninsula sits on the eastern margin of the Sea of Japan, a zone of active reverse faulting driven by the convergence of the Amurian and Okhotsk plates. The region had been experiencing an earthquake swarm — a sequence of many small to moderate quakes without a single clear mainshock — for several years before the 2024 event. This swarm activity had raised concern among seismologists, but the 1 January quake was far larger than anything in the preceding sequence.

The mainshock occurred during the Reiwa period (2019–present), in the sixth year of the Reiwa era. It was the deadliest earthquake in Japan since the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake, which had killed dozens on the island of Kyushu. The Noto event's high death toll was compounded by the fact that many residents were elderly and living in older wooden structures, and by the timing of the quake on New Year's Day, when many families were gathered at home.

Why It Mattered

The earthquake confirmed 732 deaths, with two people still missing. Of these, 718 fatalities occurred in Ishikawa Prefecture, 8 in Toyama, and 6 in Niigata. More than 1,400 people were injured, and 204,903 structures were damaged across nine prefectures. The casualty breakdown was unusual: only 228 deaths were directly caused by the shaking or tsunami, while the other 504 were classified as disaster-related deaths — fatalities aggravated by fear of aftershocks, prolonged electricity and water outages, and the strain of evacuating to temporary shelters.

The event was also significant because it triggered Japan's first major tsunami warning since 2011. Although the tsunami was far smaller than the one that devastated the Tōhoku coast, the warning system's activation and the measured 11.3 m wave at Wajima demonstrated that the Sea of Japan coast remains vulnerable to locally generated tsunamis. The earthquake also highlighted the particular risk facing the Noto Peninsula's aging population, where evacuation and recovery were slowed by the region's mountainous terrain and sparse road network.

The Name in Japanese

The Japan Meteorological Agency officially named this earthquake the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake. In Japanese, the name is 能登半島地震 (のとはんとうじしん, Noto-hantō Jishin). The full formal designation used by the JMA is 令和6年能登半島地震 (Reiwa 6-nen Noto-hantō Jishin), which adds the era year.

Breaking down the name character by character:

• 能 (の, no) — "ability" or "capacity." In this context, it is part of the place name Noto. The character is also used in words like 可能 (かのう, kanō, "possible").
• 登 (と, to) — "to climb" or "to ascend." Again, this is phonetic within the place name Noto, but the character appears in verbs like 登る (のぼる, noboru, "to climb").
• 半 (はん, han) — "half" or "peninsula." This is the first character of 半島 (はんとう, hantō), the word for "peninsula," literally "half-island."
• 島 (とう, tō) — "island." Combined with 半, it forms 半島, meaning "peninsula" — a landmass that is almost an island but attached to the mainland.
• 地 (じ, ji) — "ground" or "earth." This is the first character of 地震 (じしん, jishin), the word for "earthquake."
• 震 (しん, shin) — "to shake" or "to tremble." Together with 地, it forms 地震, literally "earth-shaking," the standard Japanese term for an earthquake.

So the full name reads literally as "Noto Peninsula Earthquake," where Noto (能登) is the region, 半島 supplies "peninsula," and 地震 supplies "earthquake." The kana reading のとはんとうじしん and the romaji Noto-hantō Jishin follow directly from these characters.

Key Figures

• Date and time: 1 January 2024, 16:10:09 JST (07:10:09 UTC)
• Magnitude: MJMA7.6 (Mw7.5)
• Epicentre: 6 km (3.7 mi) north-northeast of Suzu, Noto Peninsula, Ishikawa Prefecture
• Coordinates: 37.4980000° N, 137.2420000° E
• Maximum intensity: JMA Shindo 7; Modified Mercalli X–XI (Extreme)
• Tsunami: 11.3 m (37 ft) measured at Wajima; first major tsunami warning since 2011
• Deaths: 732 confirmed, 2 missing (718 in Ishikawa, 8 in Toyama, 6 in Niigata)
• Direct deaths: 228
• Disaster-related deaths: 504
• Injuries: More than 1,400
• Structures damaged: 204,903 across nine prefectures
• Era: Reiwa 6 (令和6年)