A tsunami has been observed as earthquakes with a preliminary magnitude of 6.9 and 5.7 struck the Pacific off northeastern Japan on Tuesday.
"A 20-centimeter wave was observed at Kuji port in Iwate roughly an hour later and a 10-cm wave in Miyako," the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said as quoted by the Kyodo News Agency.
According to JMA, an earthquake with magnitude 6.9 struck at 8:06 am in the Pacific Ocean about 210 kilometers east of Miyako, Iwate Prefecture, at a depth of around 10 km and registered 4 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in parts of Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi and Akita prefectures.
"Japan's public broadcaster NHK showed live video footage which showed strong shaking in Aomori prefecture, some 700 kilometers (430 miles) north of Tokyo," Reuters has written.
Evacuation orders were issued for residents in coastal districts of Kuji and the town of Otsuchi, and evacuation advisories for the cities of Ofunato and Rikuzentakata as well as Kamaishi.
Evacuation orders were issued for residents in coastal districts of Kuji and the town of Otsuchi, and evacuation advisories for the cities of Ofunato and Rikuzentakata as well as Kamaishi.
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| Residents of Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture, take shelter in the gymnasium of a primary school Tuesday morning following the tremor. Sirens sounded and people fled low-lying areas (Reuters/KYODO) |
"The
quake was believed to be an aftershock of the 9.0-magnitude earthquake
that hit the Tohoku region on March 11, 2011," the meteorological agency
said as quoted by The Japan Times.
According to the Japanese government, about 1.5 million tons of debris was floating in the ocean immediately after the Tsunami disaster. Japanese fishing boat washed by 2011 tsunami was confirmed as the first piece of debris to reach the coast of California.
A minor tsunami of 20 centimetres was observed in Ishinomaki, Miyagi prefecture, and Ofunato, Iwate prefecture of Japan after magnitude 6.8 earthquake in July 2014.
The same region was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11th 2011. The earthquake claimed lives of 15,889 people and moved Honshu Island 2.4 m east. Japan accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.
23:06 UTC (local time 2015-02-17 04:51 @ epicenter)
Epicenter Location (By USGS)
83 km (52mi) ENE of Miyako, Japan
90 km (56mi) ENE of Yamada, Japan
99 km (62mi) ENE of Otsuchi, Japan
106 km (66mi) NE of Kamaishi, Japan
538 km (334mi) NNE of Tokyo, Japan
In collaboration with earthquake-report.com