Osaka area hit by powerful earthquake sits above fault that’s been inactive for 10,000 years … and that’s a worry for scientists
A major earthquake has long been feared in the area, which is located near several major faults
Osaka and surrounding areas in western Japan hit by a powerful earthquake on Monday are in a region where experts have long warned of the potential for major seismic activity.
Takuya Nishimura, an associate professor of geodetics at Kyoto University, said there was a possibility that the quake had occurred at the eastern end of a fault extending from the northern part of the prefecture to Awaji Island in Hyogo Prefecture.
This same fault line caused the Great Hanshin Earthquake that claimed more than 6,400 lives in 1995.
“It might be an aftershock resulting from distorted geological formations caused by the 1995 quake,” Nishimura said, adding that another fault lying further north might also be behind the latest quake.