Tsunami alert canceled after strong quake hits off Japan's Miyako Islands

Tsunami alert canceled after strong quake hits off Japan's Miyako Islands

2010-10-04 21:42:25 GMT+7 (ICT)

TOKYO (BNO NEWS) -- Japan on late Monday evening canceled a tsunami alert for some of its islands after a strong earthquake struck off the Miyako Islands, part of the country's Ryukyu Islands.

The 6.4-magnitude earthquake at 10.28 p.m. local time (1328 GMT) was centered approximately 70 miles (113 kilometers) east of Ishigaki-jima, a city in Okinawa Prefecture. It struck about 22.3 miles (35.9 kilometers) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).

Immediately after the earthquake, a tsunami alert was issued for the Miyakojima and Yaeyama areas of the Ryukyu Islands. JMA said a tsunami of around 0.5 meters (1.6 feet) was expected.

"It is estimated that a tsunami has already arrived there," JMA said in a bulletin. "Note the actual tsunamis can be higher than our estimation at some parts of the coasts."

The alert, which was less severe than a full blown tsunami warning, was canceled about an hour later. JMA did not immediately report any actual tsunami activity.

Moderate earthquake shaking could be felt throughout the islands group as a result of the tremor, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) measured the strength of the earthquake at 6.3 on the Richter scale, slightly weaker than the locally reported magnitude. It estimated that approximately 55,000 people may have felt moderate earthquake shaking, but said the likelihood of casualties and damage was low.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2010-10-04