noun
Tokyo near-field earthquake; large-scale earthquake directly hitting the Tokyo area
A technical term used in disaster prevention and seismology. Refers to a major earthquake with an epicenter directly beneath the Tokyo metropolitan area, expected to cause severe damage. Also used historically for the 1855 Ansei Edo earthquake and the 1894 Meiji Tokyo earthquake.
首都直下型地震に備えて、防災訓練が行われた。
Disaster drills were conducted in preparation for a Tokyo near-field earthquake.
政府は首都直下型地震の被害想定を公表した。
The government released damage estimates for a Tokyo near-field earthquake.
A general term for a near-field earthquake with an epicenter directly beneath a populated area. 首都直下型地震 specifically refers to such an earthquake under Tokyo.
Refers to a massive subduction-zone earthquake along the Nankai Trough, a different type of seismic threat compared to a near-field Tokyo earthquake.
Compound of 首都 (shuto, 'capital city') + 直下 (chokka, 'directly below') + 型 (gata, 'type') + 地震 (jishin, 'earthquake'). The term became widely used in Japanese disaster prevention discourse in the late 20th century.