2003 Miyagi earthquakes

2003 Miyagi earthquakes
May event
July event
UTC time2003-05-26 09:24:33
 2003-07-25 22:13:29
ISC event6849185
 7006322
USGS-ANSSComCat
 ComCat
Local dateMay 26, 2003
 July 26, 2003
Local time18:24:33 JST (UTC+9)
 07:13:29 JST (UTC+9)
MagnitudeMw 7.0, MJMA 7.1
 Mw 6.0, MJMA 6.4
Depth68.0 km (42.3 mi)
 6 km (3.7 mi)
FaultAsahiyama flexure (July 26)
TypeOblique-reverse
Total damage¥92.9 billion (US$644 million, equivalent to $1.12 billion in 2025)
Max. intensityJMA 6+ (MMI IX)
Peak acceleration1.134 g (May 26)
2.08 g (July 26)
Peak velocity60.13 cm/s (May 26)
LandslidesYes
Aftershocks27 ≥Mw4.0 (May 26)
Casualties851 injuries

Two major earthquakes struck Miyagi Prefecture in Japan in 2003. The first event measured MJMA 7.1, had a near-intermediate depth of 68 km (42 mi) and struck the town of Kesennuma, near the border with Iwate Prefecture, injuring 174 people in five prefectures, while the second event, despite having a lower magnitude of MJMA 6.4, was much more destructive and intense due to occurring much closer to the surface at 6 km (3.7 mi), injuring nearly 680 people across multiple towns near Sendai and Ishinomaki in Miyagi. Both events caused moderate damage to infrastructure, triggered landslides, soil liquefaction and other ground effects, and damaged or destroyed 18,488 homes, 5,108 of them severely.