Japan Trench

E21757

The Japan Trench is a deep oceanic trench off northeastern Japan where the Pacific Plate subducts beneath the Okhotsk Plate, forming part of the Pacific Ring of Fire and generating powerful earthquakes and tsunamis.

Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

Observed surface forms (4)

Surface form Occurrences
Japan Trench region 2
Japan Trench subduction system 1
Japan Trench subduction zone 1

Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf oceanic trench
subduction zone
adjacentTo Hokkaido
Honshu
associatedHazard megathrust earthquakes
tsunamis
associatedWithEvent 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami region
countryBorder Japan
depthCategory hadal zone
ecosystemType deep-sea environment
extendsFrom off Hokkaido
extendsTo toward the Izu-Bonin Trench region
floorComposition oceanic crust of the Pacific Plate
formsArcSystemWith Izu–Ogasawara Trench
surface form: Izu-Bonin Trench

Kuril Trench
geologicalAge Cenozoic
geologicalProcess subduction
hasBathymetry steep trench slope
hasMorphology narrow, elongated depression
influences Japanese seismic hazard
tsunami risk along Japan’s Pacific coast
isBoundaryBetween Okhotsk Plate
Pacific Plate
isMonitoredBy ocean-bottom seismometer networks
tsunami observation systems
knownFor powerful earthquakes
tsunami generation
locatedIn Pacific Ocean
locatedOffCoastOf northeastern Japan
marginType active continental margin
maximumDepth over 26000 feet
over 8000 meters
nearbyIslandArc Japanese archipelago
surface form: Japan island arc
oceanBasin western Pacific Ocean
surface form: Northwest Pacific Ocean
orientation roughly north–south to north-northeast–south-southwest
overridingPlate Okhotsk Plate
partOf Pacific Ring of Fire
plateBoundaryType oceanic-oceanic convergence
regionalContext northwestern Pacific subduction system
relatedFeature Japan Trench self-linksurface differs
surface form: Japan Trench subduction zone
sedimentSource Japanese island arc
seismicity high
studiedInDiscipline marine geology
plate tectonics
seismology
subductingPlate Pacific Plate
supports hadal fauna
tectonicSetting convergent plate boundary
typeLocalityFor Japan Trench subduction earthquakes

Referenced by (13)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

this entity surface form: Japan Trench subduction system
Amur Plate associatedWith Japan Trench
Okhotsk Plate associatedWith Japan Trench
Pacific Plate boundedBy Japan Trench
this entity surface form: Okhotsk Plate
Ring of Fire contains Japan Trench
this entity surface form: Japan Trench region
western Pacific Ocean contains Japan Trench
Pacific Plate hasBoundaryFeature Japan Trench
RV Kairei operatesIn Japan Trench
this entity surface form: Japan Trench region
Japan Trench relatedFeature Japan Trench self-linksurface differs
this entity surface form: Japan Trench subduction zone
Aleutian Trench relatedTo Japan Trench
Izu–Ogasawara Trench relatedTo Japan Trench