Qualla: The 2023 Noto Earthquake: Warning Shot on the Peninsula https://qualla.com/2023-noto-earthquake en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:40 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/x/n/9/t/2023-noto-earthquake-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: The 2023 Noto Earthquake: Warning Shot on the Peninsula https://qualla.com/2023-noto-earthquake The 2023 Noto Earthquake: Warning Shot on the Peninsula: Introduction https://qualla.com/2023-noto-earthquake/ Photo credit Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0. The timing was cruel. May 5, 2023, was Children's Day in Japan -- a national holiday when families fly koinobori carp streamers and celebrate the health and happiness of their young. At 2:42 p.m. local time, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck off the coast of Ishikawa Prefecture, centered 49 kilometers northeast of the town of Anamizu, with the small city of Suzu closest to the epicenter. The holiday ended in evacuation orders, collapsed buildings, and the partial destruction of Mitsukejima -- the beloved 30-meter rock formation known as "Battleship Island" that had stood off the coast of Suzu as one of the Noto Peninsula's most iconic landmarks. Looking back, the quake reads like a warning. Eight months later, the peninsula would be struck by a magnitude 7.5 earthquake that killed over 700 people.

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Image: Mikenorton | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/x/n/9/t/2023-noto-earthquake-wp/xn9t-the-2023-noto-earthquake-warning-shot-on-the-penin-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full The 2023 Noto Earthquake: Warning Shot on the Peninsula: Where Plates Collide in Silence https://qualla.com/2023-noto-earthquake/ Photo credit Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0. The geology beneath the Noto Peninsula is a slow-motion collision. The earthquake occurred in a zone of compressional deformation where the Okhotsk microplate converges westward into the Amur Plate at roughly 9 millimeters per year, with a maximum convergence rate of 24 millimete...

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Image: Mikenorton | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/x/n/9/t/2023-noto-earthquake-wp/xn9t-the-2023-noto-earthquake-warning-shot-on-the-penin-where-plates-collide-in-silence.mp3 0:06 2 full The 2023 Noto Earthquake: Warning Shot on the Peninsula: Battleship Island Crumbles https://qualla.com/2023-noto-earthquake/ Photo credit Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0. Thirty-eight houses collapsed outright. Another 263 were partially destroyed. A further 1,855 sustained damage, with the overwhelming majority -- 1,825 -- concentrated in Suzu. Among the injured, two fell unconscious, two were trapped in collapsed structures, a child was struck b...

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Image: Mikenorton | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/x/n/9/t/2023-noto-earthquake-wp/xn9t-the-2023-noto-earthquake-warning-shot-on-the-penin-battleship-island-crumbles.mp3 0:06 3 full The 2023 Noto Earthquake: Warning Shot on the Peninsula: A City That Refused Help https://qualla.com/2023-noto-earthquake/ Photo credit Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0. Around 1,600 people were evacuated across the affected area, with 250 taking shelter in evacuation centers in Ishikawa Prefecture. The Japan Meteorological Agency warned that strong aftershocks could continue for at least a week, and more than 50 hit on the first day alone, rangi...

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Image: Mikenorton | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/x/n/9/t/2023-noto-earthquake-wp/xn9t-the-2023-noto-earthquake-warning-shot-on-the-penin-a-city-that-refused-help.mp3 0:06 4 full The 2023 Noto Earthquake: Warning Shot on the Peninsula: The Quake That Came Next https://qualla.com/2023-noto-earthquake/ Photo credit Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0. The 2023 earthquake was not an isolated event. It was part of an escalating seismic sequence on the Noto Peninsula that had been building since at least 2020, when a swarm of small earthquakes began rattling the region. A shindo 6-lower quake struck in June 2022. The May 2023 eve...

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Image: Mikenorton | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/x/n/9/t/2023-noto-earthquake-wp/xn9t-the-2023-noto-earthquake-warning-shot-on-the-penin-the-quake-that-came-next.mp3 0:06 5 full