Satellite images have documented dramatic alterations to the coastline of Japan’s Noto Peninsula in the aftermath of a powerful earthquake that occurred on New Year’s Day.
On January 1, at approximately 2:10 a.m. EST (0710 GMT, or 4:10 p.m. local time in Japan), a seismic event with a magnitude of 7.6 struck Japan. This led to evacuation orders for residents in affected coastal areas that witnessed substantial uplift. Comparative satellite imagery, captured before and after the earthquake, illustrates that the significant uplift resulted in an expansion of the coastline by up to 820 feet (250 meters) – a distance surpassing the length of two American football fields.
Images of Japan’s Noto Peninsula shared on X (formerly Twitter) by Nahel Belgherze show coastal areas where the seafloor has risen above the water, creating newly exposed beaches. The photos capture the coastline changes after the earthquake and tsunami had already subsided, leaving some ports completely dry and inaccessible to boats. Satellite images have documented
“In the course of a field investigation conducted along the northwest coast of the Noto Peninsula, evidence of coseismic coastal uplift associated with the Noto Peninsula Earthquake (M7.6) was discovered at 10 locations, spanning from Kaiso to Akasaki sites,” stated researchers from the Earthquake Research Institute at the University of Tokyo on January 4th.