This is a booklet about earthquakes that was published shortly after the Great Ansei Earthquake of October 1855. Its diverse content includes information on earthquakes not only in Japan but also the West, earthquake prediction, and a chronology of earthquakes.

Various types of publications were produced in the wake of the Great Ansei Earthquake of October 1855. This booklet contains earthquake-related information and was published shortly after the earthquake, in 1856. The content is diverse, ranging from a general explanation of earthquakes to an earthquake map of Italy as a case study from the West, and an introduction to a device for predicting earthquakes using magnets. The booklet ends with a chronology of earthquakes from the time of the Emperor Tenmu (673-686 AD) right through to 1855. The booklet was edited by Yamazaki Yoshishige, an essayist of the late Edo period responsible for numerous works across a variety of genres. The image shown here is titled Illustration of the Great Earthquake in the Genroku Year of the Sheep, which struck in November 1703. It depicts Asakusa, Nihonbashi, and other districts in Edo, as well as the tsunami in Boso and the damage suffered in Odawara.