TOKYO, March 10 (Xinhua) -- A series of earthquakes of up to 7.6 magnitude that rocked central Japan on Jan. 1 has caused liquefaction in more places than the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake, researchers said.

At least 1,724 spots in the prefectures of Ishikawa, Toyama, Niigata and Fukui experienced soil liquefaction, according to a research team from the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED).

In January and February, the NIED team divided the area into 250-square-meter blocks and counted the spots where water spray and sandblasting caused by liquefaction had occurred.

Using materials such as satellite images and damage reports in on-the-ground surveys, the ongoing research is the first study on the full scope of the phenomenon triggered by the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake, the team said.

The damage caused by the tremors on New Year's Day was significant due to the long duration of shaking combined with numerous sites with soil types prone to liquefaction, such as sand or fill, it added.

The 1,724 liquefaction spots are already higher than the Great Hanshin Earthquake's 1,266, and as the NIED team's research is partway through, the total number is reportedly expected to exceed 2,000, surpassing the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake's 1,890. In the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, land in 8,600 locations had liquefied. Enditem

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