Ring of Fire subduction of the Pacific Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate. As many as 1,500 earthquakes are recorded yearly, and magnitudes of 4 to 6 are not uncommon. Minor tremors occur almost daily in one part of the country or another, causing some slight shaking of buildings. Major earthquakes occur infrequently; the most famous in the 20th century were: the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923, in which 130,000 people died; and the Great Hanshin earthquake of 17 January 1995, in which 6,434 people died. On March 11, 2011 a magnitude 9.0 earthquake hit Japan, the country's biggest ever and the fifth
June 2011 Christchurch earthquake June 2011 Christchurch earthquake The June 2011 Christchurch earthquake was a shallow magnitude 6.3 M earthquake that occurred on 13 June 2011 at 14:20 NZST (02:20 UTC). It was centred at a depth of 6 km (3.8 mi), about 10 km (6 mi) from Christchurch, which had previously been devastated by another magnitude 6.3 M earthquake in February 2011. The June quake was preceded by a magnitude 5.9 M tremor that struck the region at a slightly deeper 8.9 km (5.5 mi). The United States Geological Survey reported a magnitude of 6.0 M at a depth of about 9 km