The Chūetsu offshore earthquake was a powerful magnitude 6.6 earthquake that occurred 10:13 local time on July 16, 2007, in the northwest Niigata Prefecture of Japan. The earthquake, which occurred at a previously unknown offshore fault shook Niigata and neighbouring prefectures. The city of Kashiwazaki and the villages of Iizuna and Kariwa registered the highest seismic intensity of a strong 6 on Japan's shindo scale, and the quake was felt as far away as Tokyo. Eleven deaths and at least 1,000 injuries were reported, and 342 buildings were completely destroyed, mostly older wooden structures. Prime Minister Shinzō Abe broke off from his election campaign to visit Kashiwazaki and promised to "make every effort towards rescue and also to restore services such as gas and electricity".
An earthquake of magnitude .mw-parser-output .tooltip-dotted{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}Mw 6.6 struck Niigata Prefecture, Japan, causing a leak of radioactive gases from the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant.
On July 16, in the year 2007, An earthquake of magnitude .mw-parser-output .tooltip-dotted{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}Mw 6.6 struck Niigata Prefecture, Japan, causing a leak of radioactive gases from the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant. This event is recorded as a Selected Events event in the history of July 16, a notable event in this corner of history.
Key Facts
- This event took place on July 16, 2007 (AD era).
- It is categorised as a Selected Events event in recorded history.
- Referenced in 4 Wikipedia articles.
- The event is associated with a specific geographical location (see map below).
- Wikipedia source last updated on 1 July 2026.
On This Date in History
This article draws on content from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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