Quick answers
- Did older condominiums collapse in Japan's recent earthquakes?
- In trade-association surveys of managed condominiums, one of 566 in Kumamoto in 2016, completed 1972–81 (Showa 47–56), reported rebuild-level damage. Government engineers also recorded pre-1981 concrete apartment-and-shop buildings in Kumamoto City whose lower floors collapsed.
- How did pre-1981 concrete buildings do in the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake?
- In the central Mashiki survey area, 2 of the 52 concrete buildings collapsed, and both were pre-1981. The area had only 15 pre-1981 concrete buildings, so the sample is small.
- Can a pre-1981 condominium get the earthquake insurance discount?
- A building completed before June 1981 gets 10% only if a seismic diagnosis or retrofit shows it meets the 1981 standard. Discounts do not combine.
We gather data objectively from the latest available sources and share what we find useful.
We hope it helps anyone looking for a home in Japan, or considering a business built around property.
Buildings whose permit was issued before 1 June 1981 follow Japan’s old seismic standard, designed for moderate earthquakes of around intensity 5 upper; the 1981 standard added that a building should not collapse at intensity 6 upper to 7. The line is the permit date, not completion, so a building completed after June 1981 can still be an old-standard building. The table shows the management companies’ trade-association surveys.
Concrete apartment buildings in recent major earthquakes
Condominiums managed by member companies · all construction eras together
| Earthquake | Checked | Severe* | Moderate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kumamoto 2016max. 7 twice (Mashiki) · Kumamoto Prefecture | 566 | 10.18% | 488.48% |
| Great East Japan 2011max. 7 · Sendai 6 upper · Tohoku | 1,642 | 0 | 261.58% |
| Same day, KantoTokyo max. 5 upper | 44,723 | 0 | 180.04% |
*Severe: “fatal damage, rebuilding needed”, including collapse; moderate: major strengthening or repair needed. 2016: reported by member companies, provisional (14 June 2016). 2011: assessed by members’ technical staff on the Architectural Institute of Japan grades, whose “severe” does not mean rebuilding is needed; the same 2011 document lists five condominiums in Sendai that were demolished.
Kumamoto 2026 (max. intensity 7), graded differently: in a preliminary exterior check of apartment buildings by national research institutes, focusing on 7 storeys or more, Yatsushiro’s 27 showed no wide structural damage, limited structural damage in 7 and wide non-structural wall damage in 2; Uto and Uki’s 8 showed no structural damage. Three low-rise concrete buildings, use not stated, thought to be pre-1981 and never strengthened, had their ground floor crushed. Noto 2024: we found no condominium survey; the one concrete building that collapsed in the government survey toppled, built before the 1984 pile-design guidance.
Most of these condominiums had at most cracks or tile repairs; one in Kumamoto in 2016, completed 1972–81 (Showa 47–56), reported rebuild-level damage. Outside these surveys, government engineers recorded pre-1981 concrete apartment-and-shop buildings in Kumamoto City whose lower floors collapsed. The surveys do not split the undamaged buildings by era, so they cannot give a rate for older buildings alone.
Concrete Buildings by Era
Reinforced concrete · central Mashiki, Kumamoto 2016
Every concrete building in the survey area, all uses except warehouses, shrines and similar · 52 buildings (15 pre-1981 + 37 newer)
Survey area: central Mashiki, from the town hall south to the Akitsu River, including Miyazono, where intensity 7 was recorded twice. The Architectural Institute of Japan checked every building there (2,652) in May 2016. Preliminary figures; buildings of uncertain date are counted in the older era.
In the central Mashiki survey area, 2 of the 52 concrete buildings collapsed, and both were pre-1981. The area had only 15 pre-1981 concrete buildings, so the sample is small. The figure most often quoted from the same survey, 28.2% collapsed (Table 5.2-2), refers to wooden houses, not concrete. Across the 2016 surveys, all 10 concrete buildings found collapsed were old-standard and no diagnosed or retrofitted one was reported collapsed, while 9 newer concrete buildings were judged to have severe damage to the superstructure.
Earthquake Insurance
| Cover | 30–50% of the fire insurance amount |
| Limits | JPY 50M building · JPY 10M contents |
| Pays | 100 / 60 / 30 / 5%total / large-half / small-half / partial loss |
| Discounts (one only) | 10% if built from June 198110% if a diagnosis or retrofit meets the 1981 standard · seismic grade 1/2/3: 10/30/50% · 50% isolation |
Fire insurance alone does not pay for earthquake damage, and earthquake cover is designed to help people rebuild their lives rather than restore a property’s full value. A building completed before June 1981 gets the 10% discount only if a diagnosis or retrofit shows it meets the 1981 standard. Of the 7,821 old-standard condominium buildings reporting to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, 31.1% had been diagnosed by March 2024; where a diagnosis exists, the broker must explain the result before the contract. Under MLIT’s model rules, the management association usually insures the common parts; cover for the unit and contents is up to each owner.
About 1.03 million condominium homes in Japan were built to the old standard (MLIT estimate). In 2011, the strongest shaking in Tokyo was intensity 5 upper; the Kumamoto and Sendai records above, including the five condominiums demolished in Sendai, show what stronger shaking did.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did older condominiums collapse in Japan's recent earthquakes?
In trade-association surveys of managed condominiums, one of 566 in Kumamoto in 2016, completed 1972–81 (Showa 47–56), reported rebuild-level damage. Government engineers also recorded pre-1981 concrete apartment-and-shop buildings in Kumamoto City whose lower floors collapsed.
How did pre-1981 concrete buildings do in the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake?
In the central Mashiki survey area, 2 of the 52 concrete buildings collapsed, and both were pre-1981. The area had only 15 pre-1981 concrete buildings, so the sample is small.
Can a pre-1981 condominium get the earthquake insurance discount?
A building completed before June 1981 gets 10% only if a seismic diagnosis or retrofit shows it meets the 1981 standard. Discounts do not combine.
Sources
Chapter 4 (intensities), Table 5.2-2 (central Mashiki survey) and Section 5.5 (concrete buildings).
Section 3.5: collapsed, severely damaged, and diagnosed or retrofitted concrete buildings.
Trade-association data on condominiums managed by member companies. The 2011 figures, published by the High-Rise Housing Management Association on 21 Sep 2011, are reproduced in the Ministry of Justice document.
Noto concrete buildings (Section 3.3); seismic intensities in 2011 and 2026.
The 1981 change; the permit-date rule and diagnosis status of old-standard condominiums (March 2024); disclosure of diagnosis results before a contract.
Units at the end of 2025 (estimate); insurance of common parts (Art. 24, 2025 revision).
General information based on the sources listed, as of the date above. We check each figure against its source, but cannot guarantee that the information is complete, accurate or current. It is not legal, tax or investment advice; before any purchase, please rely on the original sources, the property’s disclosure statement and contract, and your own advisers.
