Strong Quakes Near Japan

A series of strong earthquakes have struck off the coast of Honshu, Japan, following yesterday’s major earthquake.

Thursday 10th March 2011

A major undersea earthquake struck off the coast of Honshu, Japan at 3:45 p.m. New Zealand Daylight Time yesterday. The magnitude 7.2 quake was centred 168 km east of Sendai, Honshu at a depth of 32 km.

The earthquake was likely to have generated a tsunami and alerts were issued for nearby coastal areas. Waves of about half a metre came ashore along eastern coasts of Honshu, with the highest wave being measured at 54 cm (1.8 feet) at Ofunato, Honshu. The waves did not cause significant damage or inundation to low-lying areas.

Steady aftershock activity has followed with a dozen magnitude 5 quakes and eight magnitude 4 events.

Another burst of activity this morning New Zealand time has included three earthquakes of magnitude 6. The undersea quakes have been centred between 155 and 205 km east of Sendai at a depth of 23 km. The largest of these, reported as magnitude 6.6 in Japan triggered a tsunami warning with waves up to half a metre in height expected at coastal areas of Fukushima Prefecture. Significant sea level changes did not result, and the tsunami warning was cancelled.

[Compiled from data supplied by the U.S. Geological Survey and its contributing agencies, and the Japan Meteorological Agency.]

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