▲ Earthquake in Japan
Possibility has been raised that the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that occurred off the coast of Iwate Prefecture, Japan, last month was influenced by a "slow slip," a phenomenon where plate boundaries shift gradually.
According to NHK on Thursday (July 2), expert analysis suggests that slow slip activity had been active even before the earthquake struck off the coast of Iwate Prefecture on June 25.
A slow slip refers to a phenomenon in which the boundaries between tectonic plates move by slipping slowly.
Professor Naoki Uchida of the Earthquake Research Institute at the University of Tokyo analyzed that this earthquake appears to have been influenced by a slow slip.
He stated that the slow slip activity likely intensified due to the impact of the 7.7 magnitude earthquake that occurred off the coast of Sanriku this past April.
Professor Uchida expressed concern that the area where slow slips are actively occurring may have expanded from off the coast of Tohoku, Japan, to the south and west of the epicenter of the 1994 Sanriku earthquake.
A 7.6 magnitude earthquake occurred in Sanriku in 1994, and no large-scale earthquakes have occurred there for about 30 years since.
He urged for preparedness, saying, "While it is impossible to predict the magnitude of the next earthquake, it could be equal to or greater than those that have occurred so far."
(Photo: Provided by Korea Meteorological Administration, Yonhap News)
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