Ever wondered how many people died because of natural disasters in Japan? Is it cause for concern? Does it kill more than crimes and accidents in Brazil? Today we are going to see a list of disasters in Japan with death toll.
The list below includes any natural disaster, whether tsunami, landslide, fire, practically any natural disaster and some situations caused by humans, excluding acts of war and epidemics.
List of Disasters in Japan
The list is organized by number of deaths. It is estimated that more than 250,000 people died in the incidents below over a period greater than 100 years. The earthquake that killed the most people happened a century ago, where Japan was unprepared.
It may seem like a lot, but this highlights that Japan is safe, since in Brazil that number is reached in less than half a decade with murders and accidents due to recklessness. I like to make it clear that a person doesn't need to be afraid!
Responsive Table: Scroll the table to the side with your finger >>
| deaths | Disaster | Type | Data | Local |
| 105,385 | Great Kantō earthquake in 1923 | earthquake and tsunami | 1 Sep 1923 | Kantō Plains, Honshu |
| 21.959 [OF] | Sanriku earthquake in 1896 | earthquake and tsunami | 15 June 1896 | Offshore Tōhoku region, Hawaii |
| 19.113 [OF] | 1828 Typhoon North of Kyushu | typhoon and tidal wave | 17 Sep 1828 | Northern Kyushu Islands |
| 15,897 | Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami | earthquake and tsunami | 11 Mar 2011 | 72 km a leste da Península de Oshika, Tōhoku |
| 15,000 | Unzen's Great Disaster | Eruption, earthquake and tsunami | 21 May 1792 | Mount Unzen, Kyushu |
| 13,000 | 1771 Great Tsunami of Yaeyama | earthquake and tsunami | 24 Apr 1771 | Ishigaki Isle and Miyako Islands |
| 7,273 | Mino Earthquake – Owari | Earthquake | 28 Oct 1891 | Mino Province and Owari Province |
| 7,000 | Great Ansei earthquake | Earthquake | 11 Nov 1855 | Tokyo |
| 6,434 | Great Hanshin Earthquake | Earthquake | 17 Jan 1995 | Awaji Island, near Kobe |
| 5,098 | Typhoon Vera | typhoon and tidal wave | 26 Sep 1959 | mainly, Ise Bay, Aichi and Mie |
| 3,769 | 1948 Fukui earthquake | Earthquake | 28 Jun 1948 | Fukui |
| 3,756 | 1945 Typhoon Makurazaki | typhoon and tidal wave | 17 Sep 1945 | mainly, Kyushu Island, Yamaguchi, Hiroshima, Ehime |
| 3,036 | 1934 Muroto typhoon | typhoon and tidal wave | 21 Sep 1934 | Osaka Bay Area, Kyoto |
| 3,000 | 1933 Sanriku earthquake | earthquake and tsunami | 2 Mar 1933 | Offshore Tōhoku region, Hawaii |
| 2,925 | Kita Tango earthquake in 1927 | Earthquake | 7 Mar 1927 | Kyoto |
| 2,306 | 1945 Mikawa earthquake | Earthquake | 13 Jan 1945 | Aichi |
| 2,166 | 1934 Hakodate fire | City Fire | 21 March 1934 | Hakodate, Hokkaido |
| 1.992 [OF] | 1884 August typhoons | typhoon and tidal wave | 26 Aug 1884 | Okayama, Ehime and Hiroshima |
| 1,930 | 1947 Typhoon Kathleen | typhoon and floods | 16 Sep 1947 | Tone River (Gunma, Saitama and Tochigi), Tokyo, Ichinoseki |
| 1,761 | 1954 Typhoon Marie | Typhoon and fire in the city | 26 Sep 1954 | Hakodate, and Iwanai, Hokkaido |
| 1.496 [OF] | 1889 August Typhoon | Typhoon, landslide, floods | 21 Aug 1889 | Kii Peninsula, Nara, Wakayama |
| 1,269 | 1958 Typhoon Ida | Typhoon and landslide | 27 Sep 1958 | Izu Peninsula, Shizuoka |
| 1.151 [OF] | 1783 eruption of Mount Asama | Eruption | 5 Aug 1783 | Nagano, Gunma |
| 1,086 | Tottori earthquake in 1943 | Earthquake | 10 Sep 1943 | Tottori |
| 1.015 [OF] | Inundação de Wakayama de 1953 | Heavy rain, landslide and flood | 18 Jul 1953 | Kii Peninsula, Wakayama |
| 1.001 [OF] | North Kyushu flood in 1953 | Heavy rain, landslide and flood | 20 Jun 1953 | Kyushu Island, mainly Kumamoto and Kitakyushu |
| 992 [OF] | Isahaya flood in 1957 | Heavy rain, landslide and flood | 26 Jul 1957 | Nagasaki, Kumamoto |
| 943 [OF] | 1951 Typhoon Ruth | Heavy rain, Tsunami, landslide and flood | 16 Oct 1951 | Kyushu Island, Yamaguchi |
| 941 [OF] | 1868 Collapse of Lake Iruka | Heavy rain, embankment collapse | 12 May 1868 | Inuyama, Aichi |
| 715 [OF] | Great Hanshin Flood in 1938 | Heavy rain, landslide and flood | 5 Jul 1938 | Around Mount Rokkō area, Hyōgo |
| 687 [OF] | 1914 Hojo coal mine explosion | mining explosion | 14 Dec 1914 | Fukuchi, Fukuoka |
| 621 [OF] | Kawachi | shipwreck, explosion | 12 Jul 1918 | Tokuyama Bay, Shunan, Yamaguchi |
| 567 [OF] | 1899 Beshi Mines landslide | Landslide, heavy rain | 28 Aug 1889 | Niihama, Ehime |
| 520 | Japan Airlines Flight 123 | air incident | 12 Aug 1985 | Mount Takamagahara |
| 477 [OF] | 1888 eruption of Mount Bandai | Eruption | 15 Jul 1888 | Fukushima |
| 464 [OF] | Tarumizu Maru 6 | ship wreckage | 6 Feb 1944 | Kagoshima Bay, Tarumizu, Kagoshima |
| 458 | Miike coal mine explosion | mine explosion | 9 Nov 1963 | Miike Coal Mine, Fukuoka |
| 447 [OF] | 1972 Heavy rain in western Japan | Heavy rain, landslide, flooding. | 13 Jul 1972 | mainly, Amakusa, Kōchi and Aichi |
| 440 [OF] | 1807 Eidai Bridge collapse by stampede | Stampede | 20 Sep 1807 | Edo (Tokyo) |
| 426 | 1858 Hietsu earthquake | Earthquake | 9 Apr 1858 | Gifu |
| 375 [OF] | 1936 Osarizawa mine failure | Heavy rain, dam failure | 20 Nov 1936 | Kazuno, Akita |
| 322 [OF] | 1982 flood in Nagasaki | Heavy rain, landslide | 20 Jul 1982 | Nagasaki, Kumamoto |
| 304 [OF] | Sekirei Maru | ship wreckage | 20 Dec 1945 | Akashi Strait, Hyogo |
| 264 | China Airlines Flight 140 | air incident | 26 Apr 1994 | Nagoya, Japan |
| 230 | Hokkaidō earthquake in 1993 | earthquake and tsunami | 11 Jul 1993 | 58 km west of Hokkaido, Sea of Japan |
| 225 | 2018 floods in Japan | Heavy rain, flooding, landslide | 28 de junho de 2018 - 9 de julho de 2018 | Shikoku Western Honshu |
| 208 [OF] | 1943 Fire at the Hoteiza Theater | Fire | 6 Mar 1943 | Kucchan, Shiribeshi Subprefecture, Hokkaido |
| 199 | Incident in the Hakkōda Mountains | mountaineering incident | 23 Jan 1902 | Hakkōda Mountains |
| 191[OF] | 1940 Ajikawaguchi derailment | train wreck | 29 Jan 1940 | Ajikawaguchi Station, Osaka |
| 184 | Hachikō line derailment | train wreck | 25 Feb 1947 | Saitama |
| 162 | Tsurumi rail accident | train wreck | 9 Nov 1963 | Tōkaidō Main Line |
| 160 | Train accident in Mikawashima | train wreck | 3 May 1962 | Mikawashima Station |
| 155 | Mitsumata Avalanche in 1918 | Avalanche | 9 Jan 1918 | Mitsumata (now Yuzawa), Niigata |
| 154 [OF] | 1918 - Otori mine avalanche | Avalanche | 20 Jan 1918 | Asahi (now Tsuruoka), Yamagata |
| 147 [OF] | 1945 Futamata tunnel explosion | Explosion | 12 Nov 1945 | Soeda, Fukuoka |
| 144 [OF] | 1926 eruption of Mount Tokachi | Eruption | 24 May 1926 | Ishikari Mountains, Hokkaido |
| 141 | Typhoon Ewiniar | Typhoon | 29 Jun 2006 | Ryukyu Islands |
| 133 | All Nippon Airways Flight 60 | air incident | 4 Feb 1966 | Tokyo Bay |
| 129 | Tachikawa air disaster | air incident | 18 Jun 1953 | Tachikawa |
| 126 [OF] | 1956 Yahiko Shrine Stampede | Stampede | 1 Jan 1956 | Yahiko, Niigata |
| 124 | BOAC Flight 911 | air incident | 5 Mar 1966 | Mount Fuji |
| 118 [OF] | Sennichi Department Store Building Fire | Fire | 13 May 1972 | Chūō-ku, Osaka |
| 107 | Railway accident in Amagasaki | train wreck | 25 April 2005 | Amagasaki, Hyōgo |
| 106 | Sakuragicho trains fire | train wreck | 24 April 1951 | Sakuragichō Station |
| 105 | Typhoon Haikui | Typhoon | 1 Aug 2012 | Ryukyu Islands |
| 104 [OF] | 1968 Hida river bus dive | Road accident | 18 Aug 1968 | Route 41, Gero, Gifu |
| 104 [OF] | 1973 Taiyo department store fire | Fire | 29 Nov 1973 | Kumamoto, Kyushu Island |
| 94 [OF] | 1939 Hirakata Explosion | Explosion | 1 Mar 1939 | Hirakata, Osaka |
| 84 [OF] | 1924 Otaru Explosion | Explosion | 27 Dec 1924 | Otaru, Hokkaido |
| 79 [OF] | Explosão de Gás de Osaka de 1970 | Explosion | 8 Apr 1970 | Kita-ku, Osaka |
| 74 | 2014 Hiroshima landslides | landslide | 20 Aug 2014 | Hiroshima |
| 68 | Toa Domestic Airlines Flight 63 | air incident | 3 Jul 1971 | Yokotsudake |
| 59 | Typhoon Bolaven | Typhoon | 19 Aug 2012 | Ryukyu Islands |
| 56 | Mount Ontake eruption in 2014 | Eruption | 27 Sep 2014 | Monte Ontake, Honshu |
| 54 | Typhoon Chataan | Typhoon | 27 Jun 2002 | Guam, Northern Mariana Islands |
| 50 | All Nippon Airways Flight 533 | air incident | November 13, 1966 | Sea of Seto Island |
| 44 | Myojo 56 fire building | Fire | 1 Sep 2001 | Kabukicho section of Shinjuku, Tokyo |
| 41 | East Iburi Earthquake in Hokkaido in 2018 | Earthquake | 6 Sep 2018 | Hokkaido, Atsuma City |
| 40 | 2004 Chūetsu earthquake | Earthquake | 23 Oct 2004 | Niigata |
| 36 | 2019 Kyoto Animation Fire | Arson | 18 Jul 2019 | Kyoto |
| 30 | Tsuyama Massacre | spree killing | 21 May 38 | Rural village of Kaio and Okayama |
