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Magnitude 7.0 earthquake strikes deep beneath Pacific near Japan, country’s meteorological agency says
The Independent • • world
Key Points:
- A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck deep beneath the Pacific Ocean near Japan's Ogasawara Islands at a depth of about 470km, with no tsunami threat, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
- The quake was felt with an intensity of 3 on Japan's seismic scale on the inhabited islands of Chichijima and Hahajima, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
- The tremor was widely felt across eastern and north-eastern Japan due to seismic waves traveling through the Pacific tectonic plate.
- The Ogasawara Islands lie in a seismically active region where the Pacific plate subducts beneath the Philippine Sea plate, an area prone to frequent significant earthquakes.
- Japan experiences about 10% of the world's magnitude 6 or higher earthquakes, with a high risk of future major quakes, including a 70-80% chance of a magnitude 8-9 event on the Nankai Trough within 30 years.
