The Ane-gawa River Earthquake (姉川地震)
The Ane-gawa River Earthquake occurred in August 14, 1909 at 3:31pm with its seismic center near Ane-gawa River in the North East part in Shiga Prefecture (at latitude 35.4 degrees north and longitude 136.3 degrees east.)
It is thought that it was caused by the movement of the Yanagase fault expanding toward north-northwest from Shiga Prefecture to Fukui Prefecture. The magnitude that shows a scale of the earthquake was 6.8. The earthquake measured six on the seven-point Japanese scale in the current Torahime-cho, Higashiazai District in Shiga Prefecture, where it hit the hardest, and five to four in all areas in Shiga Prefecture. The noticeable earthquake was monitored in a wide area from the south of Tohoku Region to some part of Kyushu Region, and its damage hit Shiga Prefecture and Gifu Prefecture. Therefore, it is also called 'Kono Earthquake,' where Ko (江) means Omi (近江) Province (old name of Shiga Prefecture) and No (濃) means Mino (美濃) Province (old name of Gifu Prefecture).
Damages
As it was an inland earthquake, Shiga Prefecture and Gifu Prefecture were hit the most serious damages. In Shiga Prefecture, the death toll was 35, 643 were injured, 2192 houses were completely destroyed, and 5985 houses were partially destroyed. The most damaged area in the prefecture was Torahime Village (current Torahime-cho) with 17 dead and 53 injured as human damage. Furthermore, 284 houses were completely destroyed and 518 were partially destroyed out of 991 houses in the village.
In Gifu Prefecture, 6 people were killed, 18 people were injured, 51 houses were completely destroyed and 138 houses were partially destroyed in the West of Gifu City.
The total damages were, 41 deaths, 784 injuries, 2243 completely destroyed houses, 6503 partially destroyed houses, and 70 landslides. A part of the slope of Mt. Ibuki was collapsed. The bottom of the Ane-gawa River estuary subsided tens of meters, and the waves of 1.8 meters high surged in Lake Biwa. Diastrophisms such as the gush of 2.5 meter high muddy water from 6 holes in the delta were observed.