Magnitude 6.3 Earthquake beneath Ishikawa Prefecture leaves one person dead and 22 injured.

The Japan Meteorological Agency recorded a Magnitude 6.3 Earthquake at a depth of about 10 km, beneath Ishikawa Prefecture, on Honshū Island, slightly after 2.40 pm Japan Standard Time (slightly after 5.40 am GMT) on Friday 5 May 2023. The event was felt across much of central Japan and triggered a small tsunami, which was measured at about 10 cm high, and was followed eight hours later by a Magnitude 5.8 aftershock. One person is reported to have died as a result of this Earthquake, a man who fell from a ladder, with 22 people injured, including two who were trapped in collapsed houses in the city of Suzu.

A partially collapsed house in the city of Suzu in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, following a Magnitude 6.3 Earthquake on 5 May 2023. Kyodo News.

Japan has a complex tectonic situation, with parts of the country on four different tectonic plates. Ishikawa Prefecture lies on the convergent margin where the the Okhotsk Plate is pushed against the Eurasian Plate, with the Pacific Plate being subducted beneath the Okhotsk Plate to the east. This is not a smooth process; the rocks of the two plates constantly stick together, only to break apart again as the pressure builds up, causing Earthquakes in the process.

The approximate location of the 5 May 2023 Ishikawa Prefecture Earthquake. USGS.

The movement of the tectonic plates beneath Japan. University of Wisconsin Eau Claire.

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