Meaning
震 means earthquake, trembling, and shaking. The character captures two distinct experiences: the geological force of seismic activity, and the involuntary shudder of a body reacting to cold, fear, or intense emotion. In daily Japanese you'll encounter it in disaster broadcasts — and just as often in descriptions of a voice or hands shaking under pressure.
Two components make up 震. The top portion is the radical 雨 (rain). The bottom is 辰 — the fifth sign of the Chinese zodiac — which also serves as the phonetic component giving the character its シン reading. Together they evoke storm-force rain hammering down from above while the earth heaves and trembles below.
震 has 15 strokes and belongs to grade 8 (secondary school) in Japan's standard curriculum. It appears among the Jōyō kanji (常用漢字) and is tested at JLPT N3. If you want to follow Japanese disaster news without a dictionary, this one is non-negotiable. Its radical is 雨 (rain), visible in the upper half.
Readings
On'yomi (音読み) — Chinese-derived readings
The on'yomi reading of 震 is シン (shin), taken from the character's historical Chinese pronunciation. It appears almost entirely in compound words (熟語, jukugo) — especially in technical and news vocabulary tied to seismic activity. When 震 sits inside a two-kanji compound, シン is almost always the reading.
- 地震 (jishin) — earthquake; the compound you'll hear daily on Japanese weather and disaster broadcasts
- 震度 (shindo) — seismic intensity; Japan's own scale from 0 (imperceptible) to 7 (catastrophic)
- 震源 (shingen) — epicenter; the underground point where an earthquake's energy originates
- 震災 (shinsai) — earthquake disaster; refers to the destruction and casualties a quake leaves behind
- 余震 (yoshin) — aftershock; smaller tremors that follow a major seismic event
The シン reading links 震 to its Chinese and Korean equivalents, keeping it useful across East Asian formal and scientific vocabulary.
Kun'yomi (訓読み) — Native Japanese readings
The kun'yomi readings are ふる.える (furueru) and ふる.う (furuu). These appear when 震 functions as a standalone verb — the body shaking from cold, fear, or overwhelming feeling. The okurigana suffix shifts with the grammatical form.
- 震える (furueru) — to tremble, to shiver (intransitive); shaking that happens without intention
- 震わせる (furuwaseru) — to make tremble (causative); often used for a voice shaking with emotion
- 身震い (miburui) — a full-body shudder; an involuntary reaction to cold, fear, or dread
Where シン tends to appear in objective, external contexts like geology or disaster reporting, the kun'yomi readings describe something more personal — the trembling felt inside the body.
Common Words & Compounds
震 anchors a dense cluster of vocabulary spanning earthquake science, construction engineering, and emotional expression.
Earthquake & Natural Disaster
- 地震 (jishin) — earthquake; unavoidable vocabulary in earthquake-prone Japan
- 震度 (shindo) — seismic intensity scale; uniquely Japanese, ranging from 0 to 7
- 震源 (shingen) — epicenter; the underground origin of an earthquake's energy
- 震源地 (shingenchi) — epicenter location; the surface point directly above the underground origin
- 震災 (shinsai) — earthquake disaster; the collective damage caused by a major quake
- 大震災 (daishinsai) — great earthquake disaster; used for historic catastrophes like the 1923 Kanto and 2011 Tohoku earthquakes
- 余震 (yoshin) — aftershock; smaller tremors following the main seismic event
- 前震 (zenshin) — foreshock; smaller quakes that precede the main earthquake, often only recognized in hindsight
Engineering & Science
- 耐震 (taishin) — earthquake-resistant; a key term in Japanese construction and urban planning
- 防震 (boushin) — earthquake-proof; describes active measures taken to prevent seismic damage
- 震動 (shindō) — vibration, tremor; the mechanical movement produced by shaking forces
Bodily & Emotional Trembling
- 震え (furue) — a tremble, a shiver; the noun form of furueru
- 身震い (miburui) — a full-body shudder; physical reaction to cold, fear, or strong emotion
- 声を震わせる (koe wo furuwaseru) — to make one's voice tremble; common in emotional or dramatic speech
Example Sentences
昨日、大きな地震がありました。
Kinō, ōkina jishin ga arimashita.
Yesterday, there was a large earthquake.
震度5の地震が東京を揺らした。
Shindo go no jishin ga Tōkyō wo yurashita.
An earthquake of seismic intensity 5 shook Tokyo.
寒くて体が震えている。
Samukute karada ga furuete iru.
My body is trembling from the cold.
地震の震源地は海の底だった。
Jishin no shingenchi wa umi no soko datta.
The epicenter of the earthquake was on the ocean floor.
余震がまだ続いているので、気をつけてください。
Yoshin ga mada tsuzuite iru node, ki wo tsukete kudasai.
Aftershocks are still ongoing — please stay alert.
彼は恐怖で声が震えた。
Kare wa kyōfu de koe ga furueta.
His voice shook with fear.
この建物は耐震構造になっています。
Kono tatemono wa taishin kōzō ni natte imasu.
This building has an earthquake-resistant structure.
大震災の後、人々は復興に力を合わせた。
Daishinsai no ato, hitobito wa fukkō ni chikara wo awaseta.
After the great earthquake disaster, people joined forces to rebuild.
発表の前、緊張で手が震えていた。
Happyō no mae, kinchō de te ga furuete ita.
Before the presentation, my hands were trembling with nerves.
地震のニュースを聞いて、身震いがした。
Jishin no nyūsu wo kiite, miburui ga shita.
Hearing the earthquake news, I shuddered involuntarily.
Memory Tip
Picture heavy rain (雨) hammering down from a stormy sky — that's the top half of 震. Below it sits 辰, pronounced shin, which supplies the on'yomi シン. Now imagine the downpour so fierce that the ground itself starts rattling — shin-shin — shaking under the storm's weight. Shape, sound, and meaning locked together in one stormy scene.