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

Because this pelagic clay layer stretches for hundreds of miles along the Japan Trench, researchers believe the region may be more vulnerable to shallow slip earthquakes than previously thought.

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