7.1M Quake Hits Japan Coast
Also in Kermadec Islands, New Zealand
Another major earthquake has hit just off the coast of Japan today - Sunday, July 10, 2011
Tsunami advisories were immediately issued but were cancelled later on, according to the Japanese Meteorological Society (JMA).
JMA listed magnitude of the earthquake at 7.1, but U.S. Geological Survey put it as 7.0.
There were some small tsunamis along the coast measuring up to 20 centimeters, according to offical sources there.
No immediate reports of deaths, injuries or damages have been received but agencies except to have more in later today.
US Geological Survey say the earthquake hit at 10:57 local time in Japan, just about 130 miles east of Sendai, going down about 20 miles deep.
The JMA measured the magnitude of the quake at 7.1.
The areas were among the hardest hit by this year's devastating earthquake and tsunami.
Officials in Ofunato, a city in Iwate, advised residents to evacuate.
The JMA, immediately after the quake, forecast the height of the tsunami could reach half a meter (about 20 inches).
No immediate abnormalities were reported at nearby nuclear facilities, according to Kyodo.
Three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant suffered meltdowns after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that devastated northern Japan. The tsunami swamped the plant and knocked out cooling systems that kept the three operating reactors from overheating, leading to the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.
Tremors from Sunday's quake were felt as far away as Tokyo.
"It's just a continuing of the aftershocks of that devastating 9.0," said Dale Grant, a geophysicist with the USGS, referring to the March quake. "These kinds of aftershocks are likely to occur for some time."
