Japan Earthquake: Strong Quake Strikes Off Coast, Causes Small Tsunami


On Friday, a powerful earthquake struck off the coast of northeastern Japan, triggering a small tsunami in at least one city in the region devastated last year’s massive quake. There were no reports of any damage resulting from the small tsunami.

The magnitude-7.3 earthquake occurred at 5:18 pm local time. The earthquake’s epicenter was located roughly 150 miles offshore and 6.2 miles beneath seabed in the same area that triggered the devastating magnitude-9.0 earthquake last year.

A tsunami warning was promptly issued for Japan’s Miyagi prefecture and surrounding areas after the earthquake struck, but the warning has since been pulled as of 8:00 pm local time.

Reports say that the latest earthquake in Japan caused buildings in Tokyo to sway for several minutes, but there appears to be no structural damage in areas impacted by the quake. A report from the Associated Press says that two people were hurt however.

One injury, reported by public television broadcaster NHK, involved a 75-year-old woman who fell and was injured when attempting to flee from the tsunami. A child was also reportedly injured, but the severity of the injury is unknown.

The Associated Pressreports:

“Shortly before the earthquake struck, NHK broke off regular programming to warn that a strong quake was due to hit. Afterward, the announcer repeatedly urged all near the coast to flee to higher ground.

“The Meteorological Agency has an early warning system that, using data from seismographs scattered across Japan, enables it to provide advance warning of the estimated intensity and timing of a major quake. The warning for Friday’s quake was issued six minutes before it struck, according to an unnamed official from the Meteorological Agency, who spoke on national television more than an hour after the quake.”

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