Natural disasters in Japan
Location Date Estimated deaths
Hokkaido earthquake 1993 , 12 July 202
Offshore Sanriku earthquake 1994 , 28 December 3
Kobe earthquake 1995 , 17 January 6,434
Ryukyu Islands earthquake 1998 , 4 May 0
Geiyo earthquake 2001 , 24 March 2
Hokkaido earthquake 2003 , 25 September 1
Chuetsu earthquake 2004 , 23 October 40
Fukuoka earthquake 2005 , 20 March 1
Miyagi earthquake 2005 , 16 August 0
Kuril Islands earthquake 2006 , 15 November 0
Kuril Islands earthquake 2007 , 13 January 0
Noto earthquake 2007 , 25 March 1
Chuetsu Offshore earthquake 2007 , 16 July 11
Iwate-Miyagi Nairiku earthquake 2008 , 14 June 12
Izu Islands earthquake 2009 , 9 August 0
Shizuoka earthquake 2009 , 11 August 1
Ryukyu Islands earthquake 2010 , 26 February 1
Bonin Islands earthquake 2010 , 21 December 0
Tohoku earthquake 2011 , 11 March 15,881
Miyagi earthquake aftershock 2011 , 7 April 4
Earthquakes -- List of recent earthquakes in Japan
Main article : List of earthquakes in Japan
Japan is one of the countries most affected by natural disasters, mainly due to it being in the Ring of Fire. Two out of the five most expensive natural disasters in recent history have occurred in Japan, in 1995 and 2011, costing $181 billion. Japan has also been the site of some of the 10 worst natural disasters of the 21st century. Many types of natural disasters occur in Japan such as tsunamis, floods, typhoons, earthquakes, cyclones, and even volcanic eruptions. The country has gone through thousands of years of natural disasters, affecting its economy, development, and social life. Some other major disasters in Japan were more recent, such as the January 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake and the March 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which triggered the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.