A magnitude 6.0 earthquake shook the waters off Japan’s eastern Noda region on Wednesday, according to the United States Geological Survey. The earthquake marks the latest in a series of tremors that have kept the earthquake-prone nation on edge.
The quake occurred at a depth of 12 miles beneath the sea surface. The location falls within an area that has experienced heightened seismic activity in recent months, though immediate reports indicated no tsunami threat or major damage from the event.
The agency reported the quake occurred at 6:26 p.m. Japan Standard Time (4:26 a.m. ET), followed by a 4.9 quake at 8:30 p.m. local time, about 50 miles apart.
The tremor comes just weeks after a more powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck off northern Japan late on Dec. 8, injuring 23 people and triggering tsunami warnings along Pacific coast communities. That quake hit around 11:15 p.m. about 50 miles off the coast of Aomori, the northernmost prefecture of Honshu island, according to Japan’s meteorological agency.
The earlier quake generated tsunami waves measuring up to 2 feet, 4 inches in Kuji port, Iwate Prefecture, with other coastal communities recording surges of up to 20 inches. The agency initially estimated the magnitude at 7.6 before revising it.
Most of the 23 injuries resulted from falling objects, according to public broadcaster NHK. Several people were hurt at a hotel in Hachinohe, while a man in Tohoku sustained minor injuries when his vehicle plunged into a hole created by the shaking.
The meteorological agency initially warned of potential tsunami surges reaching 10 feet in some areas before downgrading it to an advisory. Approximately 800 homes lost electricity, while Shinkansen bullet trains and some local lines suspended operations in the region.
The Dec. 8 quake struck just north of the area devastated by the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami in 2011 that killed nearly 20,000 people in Japan and destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
“You need to prepare, assuming that a disaster like that could happen again,” warned Satoshi Harada, an official with the meteorological agency’s earthquake and volcano division, at the time.
All tsunami advisories for northern Japan’s Pacific coastline were lifted by 6:20 a.m. on Dec. 9. The USGS also recorded a magnitude 5.1 earthquake early that morning about 76 miles south of Honcho at a depth of 22 miles.
The recent activity follows a separate episode of intense seismic unrest in the Tokara island chain in southern Japan, where more than 900 earthquakes shook the remote islands over a two-week period beginning June 21. The strongest reached magnitude 5.5, and while no major damage was reported, the psychological toll rattled many of the roughly 700 residents, according to Tokara village officials.
The village reported on its website that residents have struggled to sleep due to the persistent earthquakes, as well as constant interviews by reporters in the area.
Japan sits atop four major tectonic plates along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” which experiences around 1,500 earthquakes annually and accounts for roughly 18 percent of global seismic activity.
From NTD News
