Damage to structures caused by the Japan Sea earthquake of 1983

A summary review of the Japan Sea (Nipponkai-chubu) earthquake of 1983 is presented. Damage to civil and building structures is explained in brief. Owing to the spread of earthquake-proof design, damage sustained was very slight for a M = 7.7 earthquake, except to those built on liquefied ground. Our next target in earthquake engineering may be to protect and maintain the functions of city-facilities against strong shaking so that citizens might not experience much disruption in their daily lives after big earthquakes.