Strong earthquake hits off eastern Japan, no damage reported

Strong earthquake hits off eastern Japan, no damage reported

2011-03-22 15:00:10 GMT+7 (ICT)

TOKYO (BNO NEWS) -- A strong earthquake struck off eastern Japan on late Tuesday afternoon, seismologists said, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The 6.3-magnitude earthquake at 5.18 p.m. local time (0718 GMT) was centered about 272 kilometers (169 miles) east of Iwaki on Honshu, the country's main island. It struck about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the Japan Meteological Agency (JMA).

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) measured the strength of the earthquake at 6.6 on the Richter scale, considerably stronger than Japan's estimate. The USGS estimated that around 1.1 million people may have felt weak shaking, which would unlikely result in damage.

Neither JMA nor the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning as a result of the earthquake. "No tsunami damage by this earthquake though there may be slight sea level changes," JMA said.

The sea off northeastern Japan was hit by an enormous 9.0-magnitude earthquake earlier this month, generating large tsunamis that devastated local coastlines. More than 22,000 people are feared to have been killed.

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