Japan Trench

American  

[juh-pan trench] / dʒəˈpæn ˈtrɛntʃ /

noun

1. an oceanic trench off northeastern Japan, created by the subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the Okhotsk Plate, the continuous movement of which is a significant factor in the generation of earthquakes and tsunamis in northern Japan: part of the Pacific Ring of Fire.

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Etymology

Origin of Japan Trench

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Japan Trench

A new study found that a thin layer of soft, clay-rich sediment beneath the Japan Trench played a critical role in the disaster.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 5, 2026

"At the Japan Trench, the geologic layering basically predetermines where the fault will form," said study co-author Patrick Fulton, an associate professor in Cornell University's Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 5, 2026

There are other trenches in the southwestern Pacific that are over 10,000 m deep; the Japan Trench is over 9,000 m deep; and the Puerto Rico and Chile-Peru Trenches are over 8,000 m deep.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015

If towering tsunamis can also be produced by collapses along the Japan Trench, he says, the chance of anticipating the next one is nearly impossible.

From Science Magazine ● Sep. 26, 2014

But it wasn’t just furniture and buildings that had shifted—when the Japan Trench ruptured, the shape of the entire planet changed.

From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland