Strong quake hits off northeastern Japan, no damage

[News_Editor]

Strong quake hits off northeastern Japan, no damage

2011-03-28 07:30:16 GMT+7 (ICT)

TOKYO (BNO NEWS) -- A strong earthquake struck off the coast of northeastern Japan on early Monday morning, seismologists said, but there were no reports of damage or casualties.

The 6.5-magnitude earthquake at 7.23 a.m. local time (2223 GMT Sunday) was centered about 109 kilometers (67 miles) east of Sendai 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 Meteorological Agency (JMA).

JMA immediately issued a tsunami advisory for Miyagi Prefecture, where moderate shaking could be felt, but no tsunami waves were observed. "Although there may be slight sea-level changes in coastal regions other than the above, no tsunami damage is expected in those coastal region," JMA said. The advisory, an alert not as significant as a warning, was canceled about 1.5 hour later.

Meanwhile, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) measured the strength of the earthquake at 6.1 on the Richter scale, considerably lower than Japan's estimate. It estimated that some 14 million people may have felt light to moderate shaking.

Northeastern Japan was devastated by an enormous 9.0-magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami earlier this month, killing at least 10,800 people and leaving more than 16,000 others missing. Monday's earthquake is believed to have been an aftershock.

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