South Kantō earthquakes
General term used in describing earthquake in the Kantō region
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South Kantō earthquakes (Japanese: 南関東直下地震) or Greater Tokyo Area earthquakes (Japanese: 首都直下地震) are general terms for major earthquakes that occurs repeatedly historically in the southern part of Kanto region (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, Saitama, etc., Greater Tokyo Area) in Japan.[1][2][3] It has been announced that there is a 70% chance that earthquakes of about M7 will occur in the southern part of the Kanto region within the next 30 years.[4][5][6]


As Tokyo (Greater Tokyo Area) is one of the largest cities in the world (populated area), if a large earthquake occurs in the southern part of the Kanto region, the damage is expected to be enormous.[7][8] And also, indirect damage caused by the earthquake is thought to extend to the entire world for a long period of time. It has been announced that if a large earthquake occurs in the Greater Tokyo Area, it would kill 23,000 people in the worst-case scenario.[9][10]
Major earthquakes in the past
This is a list of major earthquakes that have caused damage to the southern part of the Kanto region in the past.