A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck some 320 km (200 miles) south-southwest of Tokyo on Sunday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), with an offshore epicenter some 303 km (188 miles) deep. The Japan Meteorological Agency put the magnitude of the earthquake slightly less, at 6.9. The quake apparently halted trains and a baseball game, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. Japan lies in one of the most seismically active areas of the world. Research by catastrophe modeler RMS indicates that a repeat of the 1923 magnitude 7.9 Great Kanto earthquake would cause approximately $80 billion in insured property losses. The magnitude 7.2 Great Hanshin (Kobe) earthquake of 1995 was one of the worst in Japan’s history and ranks among the top 40 worst global catastrophes between 1970 and 2008 both in terms of victims and insured losses. Some 6,425 people died in the quake which […]

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