地震
Meaning in Englishearthquake
Animated kanji stroke order
Related sentences
Related sentences
There are no published items in this section yet.
Word context
What it means
What does 地震 (jishin) mean? 地震 (jishin) refers to an earthquake: a geophysical event in which energy released in the Earth's crust produces seismic waves and ground shaking; the term covers a range from imperceptible tremors to large, destructive quakes and is used to name the event, the shaking felt, and the phenomenon studied by scientists.
Main meanings
- Minor tremor or aftershock distinct from a main quake, often described when distinguishing intensity or sequence of events.
- Figurative use to mean a sudden social, political, or emotional upheaval—a metaphorical 'shock' disrupting stability.
- As a morpheme in compound words to denote earthquake-related fields or incidents, such as terms for seismic science or earthquake damage.
How to use it
Used across news reports, emergency broadcasts, scientific papers, and everyday conversation; in formal contexts it appears in official alerts, technical documents, and academic writing, while in casual speech it describes felt shaking or expresses concern—context and additional words indicate magnitude, timing, or damage rather than the basic meaning.
Variants and close terms
- 震動 (しんどう, shindō) — vibration, tremor (emphasizes motion)
- 震災 (しんさい, shinsai) — earthquake disaster (focuses on damage and aftermath)
- 地震学 (じしんがく, jishin-gaku) — seismology (scientific study of earthquakes)
- 揺れ (ゆれ, yure) — shaking (more general, everyday term for sway or tremor)
Composition
- 地 (chi) — earth, ground, land; denotes the physical ground or territory.
- 震 (shin) — shake, tremble; denotes movement or vibration.
- Together they form the compound meaning 'earth-shake,' directly describing the natural phenomenon of seismic ground motion.
Origin
Earthquakes have been recognized and recorded in Japan since ancient chronicle and diary traditions; classical texts and temple records note seismic events, while modern scientific study of earthquakes in Japan accelerated in the late 19th century with the introduction of Western seismological instruments and the establishment of research institutions.
Word class
noun (名詞, meishi)