Since immediately after the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake, researchers in IRIDeS have continuously been collecting and analyzing information based on each research field. Today, we organized an emergency meeting and a lecture open to the public. During the lecture, Professor Shinji Toda, an expert in active faults, stated the following, regarding the results of analyzations so far:

“The earthquake in Kumamoto occurred by the movement of a part of an active fault near the junction of two fault zones, the Futagawa fault zone and Hinagu fault zone meet. Aftershocks still can be seen along the Hinagu fault zone, and as rain is forecasted in the region during the weekend, the ground may become unstable, so we still need to pay attention to the situation. As earthquakes have erupted repeatedly near the area in the past, the future scale of an earthquake and seismic vibration had already been estimated; by studying the data results from the Kumamoto Earthquake, we can see that the predicted scale and location of seismic vibration was highly accurate. However, the imminence of an earthquake cannot be predicted in today’s science, an unresolved issue.

The Hinagu fault zone stretches 80 kilometers from the north-northeast to the south-southwest. The northeast section moved at this earthquake; the southwest section of the active fault has no traces of movement recently, including this earthquake. Therefore, it can be said that there are still ‘unruptured fault sectionsy’ which means people must beware of large aftershocks.”

Professor Toda is planning travel to the site tomorrow with another faculty member to examine the active faults that have appeared, to gain material evidence which cannot be recognized by just observing the tremors, to make clear in detail, the characteristics of the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake.

During today’s briefing session and lecture, other IRIDeS researchers specializing in various fields of disaster risk reduction made presentations concerning their field of activity, such as earthquakes, disaster medical science, evacuation centers, destruction of houses, and volcanoes. Researchers from numerous fields are to go to the area affected by the earthquake, mainly during this weekend. As a result of the findings from those studies, we plan to hold a meeting to consider what we can do next, early next week. Also, there are schemes to verify whether the lessons from the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami were put to use in responding to the Kumamoto Earthquake.

For further information or questions, please contact IRIDeS PR Office:

+81-22-752-2049 or koho-office*irides.tohoku.ac.jp

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