According to the JMA, the quake occurred on Friday at 11:44am local time (02:44 GMT) off the coast of Aomori Prefecture at a depth of 20km (12.4 miles)
By Asaye Bankole
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.7 has struck northeastern Japan, prompting the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) to issue a tsunami advisory.
According to the JMA, the quake occurred on Friday at 11:44am local time (02:44 GMT) off the coast of Aomori Prefecture at a depth of 20km (12.4 miles).
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) also reported the earthquake as having a magnitude of 6.7.
Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said there were no immediate signs of any irregularities at nuclear facilities in the region.
National broadcaster NHK noted that the shaking from this quake was weaker than the magnitude 7.5 earthquake that struck the same area on Monday, which destroyed roads, shattered windows, and triggered tsunami waves up to 70 centimetres (2.3 feet) high.
After Monday’s earthquake, which injured at least 50 people, the JMA issued a rare special advisory warning residents across a broad area—from Hokkaido in the north to Chiba, east of Tokyo—to remain alert for the possibility of another powerful quake within a week.
The northeast region still carries the trauma of the massive magnitude 9.0 undersea earthquake in 2011, which triggered a tsunami that left about 18,500 people dead or missing.
In 2024, the JMA also issued its first special advisory for the southern half of Japan’s Pacific coast, warning of a potential “megaquake” along the Nankai Trough.
The government has said that a major quake in the Nankai Trough and the resulting tsunami could kill up to 298,000 people and cause as much as $2 trillion in damage.
Amid fears of a possible “megaquake,” NHK reported on Thursday that residents in northeastern Japan were stocking up on emergency supplies such as flashlights, water storage tanks, and support poles to keep furniture from toppling during tremors.
A shop in Hakodate, Hokkaido, reported that sales of bottled water and disaster preparedness kits have tripled since Monday’s earthquake.
“We decided it was time to get ready, so I bought disaster kits for everyone,” a man in his 30s told NHK while shopping with his family.
Japan sits atop four major tectonic plates along the western edge of the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and is one of the most seismically active countries in the world.
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