About 10 % of the world 's active volcanoes are found in Japan , which lies in a zone of extreme crustal instability . They are formed by subduction of the Pacific Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate . As many as 1,500 earthquakes are recorded yearly , and magnitudes of 4 to 6 are not uncommon . Minor tremors occur almost daily in one part of the country or another , causing some slight shaking of buildings . Major earthquakes occur infrequently ; the most famous in the 20th century were : the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923 , in which 130,000 people died ; and the Great Hanshin earthquake of 17 January 1995 , in which 6,434 people died . On March 11 , 2011 a magnitude 9.0 earthquake hit Japan , the country 's biggest ever and the fifth largest on record , according to US Geological Survey data . Undersea earthquakes also expose the Japanese coastline to danger from tsunamis
a magnitude 9.0 earthquake hit Japan
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
Ring of Fire