Updated on 27 March 2026
Hiroyuki Tsutsumi
Professor
Department of Environmental Systems Science
Faculty of Science and Engineering
Doshisha University
Kyotanabe, Kyoto 610-0394, Japan
htsutsum <at> mail.doshisha.ac.jp
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Active tectonics, tectonic geomorphology, and earthquake geology
I am a broadly trained geomorphologist/geologist working on active tectonics in Japan and East Asia. I am interested in how landscape and related geologic structures have evolved in tectonically active regions, such as the timing and mechanisms of formation of the Japanese mountain ranges. I am also interested in active faults and seismic hazards. In this regard, I work extensively on active fault mapping and paleoseismology, the study of historical and pre-historical earthquakes based on geologic evidence recorded in the landscape and stratigraphy. I employ a multidisciplinary approach that includes geomorphology, Quaternary geology, structural geology, remote sensing, geochronology, and shallow subsurface geophysics. My research is highly field-oriented, and I have worked in areas, including Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Myanmar, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, and far-east Russia, in collaboration with colleagues from local universities and research institutes. I am interested in working with motivated students with a strong field-based background in geomorphology/Quaternary geology/structural geology. All of my former international students have received MEXT scholarships. Doshisha University also offers tuition waivers to qualified Ph.D. students. If you are interested in studying in my lab, please contact me at the address above.
Current research projects
Along strike variation of the seismic behavior of the Philippine fault based on geodetic creep monitoring and trenching (funded by JSPS, 2024–2027)
Current students
Takuro Noda (M2): Three-dimensional GPR survey of the Komatsu fault of the Median Tectonic Line
Sana Shirayanagi (M2): Pattern and rate of denudation of the Japanese Islands based on dam sedimentation data
Five undergraduate students
Former Ph. D. students
Kyoto University
Noelynna T. Ramos (2011, Professor and Director, National Institute of Geological Sciences, University of the Philippines, Diliman)
Daisuke Ishimura (2012, Associate Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, Chiba University)
Shigeru Sueoka (2012, Supervising Research Scientist, Japan Atomic Energy Agency)
Jeffrey S. Perez (ABD, Supervising Science Research Specialist, Officer-in-Charge, Geologic Disaster Awareness & Preparedness Division, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology)
Doshisha University
Zakeria Shnizai (2020, Visiting scientist, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, UK)
Adi Patria (2022, Assistant Researcher, Research Center for Geological Disaster, National Research and Innovation Agency of Indonesia)
Current professional appointments
Member, The Coordinating Committee for Earthquake Prediction, Japan
Chair, Sub-commission of active fault evaluation, the Headquarters of Earthquake Research Promotion, MEXT
President, Japanese Society for Active Fault Studies
Brief CV
1996. 4–1997. 9 Assistant Professor, Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Kochi University
1997. 10–2003. 3 Assistant Professor, Department of Geophysics, Division of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University
2003. 4–2017.3 Associate Professor, Department of Geophysics, Division of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University
2017. 4– Professor, Department of Environmental Systems Science, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Doshisha University
Academic awards
Fulbright scholar (1991–1996)
Excellent paper award from the Seismological Society of Japan (2008)
Koto Bunjiro award from the Geological Society of Japan (2015)
Excellent paper award from the Japanese Society for Active Fault Studies (2025)
Peer-reviewed publications in the past five years
Min, S., Aung, T., Tsutsumi, H., Htun, W., Mon, C. T., Aung, L. T., Win, K. Z., Min, S. M., Myo, E. M. N., Htay, K. N., Khaing, S. N., Thant, M., Tun, S. T. and Wang, Y., 2026, Surface rupture of the 2025 Mw 7.7 Mandalay, Myanmar earthquake: Insights from the field investigation and optical remote sensing observation, Seismological Research Letters, in press.
Ishimura, D., Takahashi, N. O., Tsutsumi, H., Homma, S., Mukoyama, S. and Ichihara, T., 2026, Paleoseismic trenching on slip-partitioned surface ruptures associated with the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake, Seismica, doi:10.26443/seismica.v5i1.1713.
Kawashima, S., Kimura, H., Taniguchi, K., Nakanishi, T. and Tsutsumi, H., 2025, Shallow subsurface structure of the Obitoke fault in the eastern marginal faults of the Nara basin based on ultra-rapid stacking ground penetrating radar survey and arrayed boring analysis, Active Fault Research, 63, 1–17. (in Japanese with English abstract)
Tsutsumi, H. and Perez, J. S., 2024, Creep rates of the Philippine fault on Leyte Island based on offset cultural features, Geoscience Letters, 11:53, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40562-024-00367-1.
Shyu, J. B. H., Liao, J. H., Chen, C. Y., Tsutsumi, H. and Iryu, Y., 2024, Assessing the relative activity of faulting along both flanks of the Ou Backbone Range, Tohoku Region, Japan, from fluvial geomorphic analyses, Progress in Earth and Planetary Science, 11:41, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40645-024-00644-9.
Kimura, H., Tsutsumi, H., Inari, A., Taniguchi, K. and Nakanishi, T., 2024, Left-laterally deformed near-surface structures on the Tanna fault at Tashiro site, central Japan, revealed by ground penetrating radar profiling, Quaternary Research, 63, 65-75. (In Japanese with English abstract) https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jaqua/63/2/63_62.2207/_article/-char/en
Tsutsumi, H., 2024, Active tectonics of Kyushu in light of active fault data, Active Fault Research, 60, 35–38. (in Japanese) https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/afr/2024/60/2024_35/_article/-char/en
Patria, A., Natawidjaja, D. H., Daryono, M. R., Hanif, M., Puji, A. R. and Tsutsumi, H., 2023, Tectonic landform and paleoseismic events of the easternmost Matano fault in Sulawesi, Indonesia, Tectonophysics, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2023.229762.
Tsutsumi, H., Sugito, N., Kimura, H., Kawashima, S., Nakanishi, T., Koriya, Y., Taniguchi, K. and Omata, M., 2023, Paleoseismic history and slip rate of the Obitoke fault and Tenri flexure at the northeast margin of the Nara basin, southwest Japan, Active Fault Research, 58, 1–19. (in Japanese with English abstract) https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/afr/2023/58/2023_1/_article/-char/en
Kimura, H. and Tsutsumi, H., 2023, Geologic and geophysical evidence of repeated normal faulting on the Itozawa fault—the source of the Mw 6.6 Iwaki earthquake triggered by the Mw 9.0 Tohoku-oki megathrust earthquake, northeast Japan, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 113, 2492-2504, doi: 10.1785/0120230030 . https://drive.google.com/file/d/18aDcODbTc8keqwbKjahKqh1bwSDijUcr/view?usp=drive_link
Nakajima, T., Sueoka, S., Nagata, M., Kohn, B. P., Ramos, N. T., Tsutsumi, H. and Tagami, T., 2023, First report of geo- and thermochronological results from the Cordillera Central, Luzon, Philippines, Earth, Planets and Space, 75:176, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40623-023-01927-z.
Shnizai, Z., Walker, R. and Tsutsumi, H., 2023, The Chaman and Paghman active faults, west of Kabul, Afghanistan: active tectonics, geomorphology, and evidence for rupture in the destructive 1505 earthquake, Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 259:105925, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2023.105925.
Patria, A., Kimura, H., Kitade, Y. and Tsutsumi, H., 2022, Right-lateral offset associated with the most recent earthquake on the Ikeda fault of the Median Tectonic Line, southwest Japan, revealed by ground-penetrating radar profiling, Progress in Earth and Planetary Science, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40645-022-00466-7.
Kumamoto, T., Okumura, K., Tsukuda, E., Tsutsumi, Hideaki, Tsutsumi, Hiroyuki, Toda, S., Tokuyama, H., Onishi, K., Nishizaka, N., Ohno, Y., Sakai, T. and Kameda, H., 2022, Development of model of seismic source characteristics at the Ikata site based on guidelines for SSHAC Level 3, Journal of Japan Association for Earthquake Engineering, 22-2, 37-60. (In Japanese with English abstract) https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jaee/22/2/22_2_37/_article/-char/en
Ishimura, D., Tsutsumi, H., Toda, S., Fukushima, Y. Kumahara, Y., Takahashi, N., Ichihara, T. and Takada, K., 2021, Repeated triggered ruptures on a distributed secondary fault system: An example from the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake, southwest Japan, Earth, Planets and Space, 73:39, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40623-021-01371-x.
Patria, A., Tsutsumi, H., and Natawidjaja, D. H., 2021, Active fault mapping in the onshore northern Banda Arc, Indonesia: Implications for active tectonics and seismic potential, Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 218, 104881, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1367912021002194
Books, maps, and non-peer-reviewed publications in the past five years
Miyauchi, T., Tsutsumi, H., Ishiyama, T., Kagohara, K., Kaneda, H., Goto, H., Tajikara, M., Hirouchi, D. and Matta, N. (eds.), 2025, Comprehensive Atlas of Active Faults in Japan, University of Tokyo Press, 370 p., ISBN 978-4-13-060770-4. https://www.utp.or.jp/book/b10140188.html
Tsutsumi, H., Masuda, F., Iwata, T. and Asano, K., 2025, Location and recent activity of the Ujigawa and Enmyoji–Otokoyama faults in the southern Kyoto basin based on tectonic geomorphology and borehole data analysis, DPRI Annuals, Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, No. 68B, 46–60. (in Japanese with English abstract) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NAP-F3tb617Okf0p3EfAbuoigVPelywz/view?usp=sharing
Tsutsumi, H., Ishimura, D., Nakano, T., Watanabe, M. and Yoshida, K., 2025, 1:25,000 Active Fault Map "Ushitsu", Active Faults in the Northern Noto Peninsula, Geospatial Information Authority of Japan.
Kumahara, Y., Kaneda, H. and Tsutsumi, H. (eds.), 2022, Surface Ruptures Associated with the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake Sequence in Southwest Japan, Advances in Geological Science, Springer Singapore, 241p., https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1150-7.
Nakanishi, T., Okuno, M., Yamasaki, K., Hong, W., Fujita, N., Nakamura, T., Horikawa, Y., Sato, E., Kimura, H. and Tsutsumi, H., 2021, Formation process of swamp sediments of the Karako Lowland in northern Shimabara Peninsula, western Japan, The Nagoya University Chronological Research, 5, 38–43. (in Japanese with English abstract)
Nakanishi, T., Tsutsumi, H., Yamasaki, K., Torii, M., Bariso, E., Rivera, D. J., Lim, R., Daag, A., Hong, W. and Okuno, M., 2021, Recurrence interval of large earthquakes inferred from soft-sediment deformation structures (SSDS) of core samples from Paitan Lake in central Luzon, Philippines, Earth Monthly, Special Issue, 70, 24–31. (in Japanese)
Kajii, K. and Tsutsumi, H., 2021, Late Quaternary activity of the Kikugawa fault zone based on tectonic geomorphic analyses, The Harris Science Review of Doshisha University, 62, 96–102. (in Japanese with English abstract)
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