Latest science reveals the Meiwa tsunami

The full story of the giant tsunami that turns a beautiful ocean into a threat!

On April 24, 1771, a large earthquake shook the area around the Sakishima Islands in Okinawa Prefecture, followed immediately by a tsunami. The death toll from this tsunami reached approximately 12,000 people, making it one of the largest tsunami disasters in the history of Japan (the Ryukyu Islands).

The Meiwa tsunami, which occurred more than 240 years ago, is once again attracting a great deal of attention both in Japan and overseas. The biggest reason why the Meiwa tsunami fascinates so many researchers is probably because the task of elucidating the actual state of the tsunami damage that occurred more than 240 years ago from the mysterious and fragmentary information provided by ancient documents and geological records is academically fascinating, like discovering a high-quality mystery.

In this book, experts in history, geology, archaeology, and tsunami engineering, as well as local historians, provide an easy-to-understand explanation of the full picture of tsunamis based on the latest academic findings.
We hope that this will serve as a useful reference for the recovery and reconstruction efforts following the 2011 Tohoku Pacific Earthquake and Tsunami, as well as for how to respond to future tsunamis.

Author: Kazuhisa Goto and Ayano Shimabukuro [eds.]
Publisher: Nanzansha Book specifications: A5 size Number of pages: 200