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1855 Edo earthquake

1855 Edo earthquake
Great Ansei Edo Earthquake, 1855.
1855 Edo earthquake is located in Japan
1855 Edo earthquake
1855 Edo earthquake is located in Tokyo
1855 Edo earthquake
Local dateNovember 11, 1855 (1855-11-11)
Local time22:00
Magnitude7.0 Ms[1]
Epicenter35°39′N 139°48′E / 35.65°N 139.8°E / 35.65; 139.8
Areas affectedJapan, Edo (now Tokyo)
Max. intensityMMI XI (Extreme)[1]
TsunamiMinor
Casualties7,000–10,000 dead
Namazu-e print showing a minor deity (Ebisu) sleeping on the job of keeping Namazu under control, allowing the destruction of Edo, Kashima returns on horseback too late[2]
One of the Namazu-e prints that became common after the earthquake, showing the people attacking Namazu

The 1855 Edo earthquake (安政江戸地震, Ansei Edo Jishin) was the third Ansei Great Earthquake, which occurred during the late-Edo period.[3] It occurred after the 1854 Nankai earthquake, which took place about a year prior. The earthquake occurred at 22:00 local time on 11 November. It had an epicenter close to Edo (now Tokyo), causing considerable damage in the Kantō region from the shaking and subsequent fires, with a death toll of 7,000–10,000 people and destroyed around 14,000 buildings.[4][2] The earthquake had a magnitude of 7.0 on the surface wave magnitude scale and reached a maximum intensity of XI (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale.[1][5] The earthquake triggered a minor tsunami.

  1. ^ a b c National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): NCEI/WDS Global Significant Earthquake Database. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (1972), Significant Earthquake Information, NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K, retrieved 30 July 2022
  2. ^ a b Smits, Gregory (Summer 2006). "Shaking up Japan: Edo Society and the 1855 Catfish Picture Prints" (PDF). Journal of Social History. 39 (4): 1045–1078. doi:10.1353/jsh.2006.0057. S2CID 53392354. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 November 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  3. ^ _____. (2007). 安政大地震 (Ansei Daijishin) in Historical Encyclopedia of Great Edo (大江戸歴史百科, Ō-Edo Rekishi Hyakka), p. 253.
  4. ^ Smits, Gregory (2006-01-01). "Shaking up Japan: Edo Society and the 1855 Catfish Picture Prints". Journal of Social History. 39 (4): 1045–1078. doi:10.1353/jsh.2006.0057. JSTOR 3790240. S2CID 53392354.
  5. ^ Enomoto, T. (1987). "Study on the distribution of seismic intensity of the 1855 Ansei Edo earthquake in the Kanto District" (PDF). Structural Engineering/Earthquake Engineering. 4 (1): 175s – 195s. Retrieved 27 October 2010.

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