TSUKUBA, Ibaraki Prefecture--A research institute has opened a website designed to give the public access to all available information on the latest earthquakes in Japan, including the intensities of real-time ground motions.
TSUKUBA, Ibaraki Prefecture--A research institute has opened a website designed to give the public access to all available information on the latest earthquakes in Japan, including the intensities of real-time ground motions.
Until now, people seeking Japanese earthquake data often had to go to separate websites that were mainly designed for researchers and scientists.
The National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED) opened its "Site of Earthquake Information Service" (
"We hope the website will be useful to users who have just sensed shaking and are curious to know how big the latest earthquake was," said Shin Aoi, a data center director at NIED in this science city.
NIED’s website shows the epicenters, magnitudes and depths of the earthquakes in Japan over the past 24 hours, as well as data on the latest temblors and other information.
The website integrates graphics that used to appear on the sites of different nationwide seismometer networks, including the Hi-net high-sensitivity seismograph network, and the K-NET and KiK-net strong-motion seismograph networks.
The new website’s "strong-motion monitor" visualizes ground motions across the Japanese archipelago in real time, with information updated every two seconds.