Based on a few tens of photographs, height change of Kyuroku-shima Island, which locates very close to the focal region of the Japan Sea earthquake (M=7.7) on May 26th, 1983, is analyzed. 1) The island and adjacent small islets are considered to have subsided by about 30-40cm associated with the 1983 earthquake. The average offset obtained by 13 reliable photographs is 32±9cm. 2) Precursory deformation and secular change of the height were not found during 1964 through 1982. No detectable deformation was caused by largest aftershock (M=7.1) on June 21, 1983, and other aftershock activity. 3) Coseismic tilt and local collapse were not observed in the island. 4) In some cases, a height can be inferred even from snapshots with the error less than several percents. Crustal uplift and subsidence more than 10-20cm may be possible to be detected photographically at the seashore and lakeside.