Here's a list of large earthquakes in Japan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Japan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Jap

Here's a list of large earthquakes in Japan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Japan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Japan There have been several large M7+ earthquakes in populated areas since the Hanshin (Kobe) earthquake. Tohoku was obviously the biggest. Several of the Tohoku aftershocks were over M7. This spring there was a M7 earthquake in Kumamoto, which I think is the largest earthquake in a very populated area since 2011. Japan get several very large earthquakes every year, but they are usually in less populated areas. It's quite common to get M6+ earthquakes in populated areas, though. As the GP notes, damage is usually amazingly limited. I experienced one and was very surprised that nothing was damaged in my house. http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/ http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/ is super interesting to look at because you get a real sense of just how often Japan is hit with earthquakes (several a day!).