Japan Issues Tsunami Advisory After 6.7-Magnitude Offshore Quake

TOKYO, Nov 9: Japan issued a tsunami advisory on Sunday after a powerful offshore earthquake struck the northern Pacific region.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the 6.7-magnitude quake occurred at around 5:03 pm local time (0803 GMT) in waters off Iwate Prefecture. The agency warned of possible tsunami waves up to one metre high along the Iwate coast.
The US Geological Survey assessed the quake slightly higher at magnitude 6.8.

“A tsunami advisory has been issued,” the JMA said, cautioning that waves could reach the coastline at any moment.

National broadcaster NHK reported that offshore tsunami waves had been observed and urged residents to stay away from coastal areas. Live footage on Japanese television, however, showed calm seas.

The quake revived painful memories in a region still marked by the 2011 disaster, when a massive 9.0-magnitude undersea earthquake triggered a tsunami that left around 18,500 people dead or missing and caused meltdowns at three reactors in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant—Japan’s worst post-war crisis and the most severe nuclear accident since Chernobyl.

Japan sits atop four major tectonic plates on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and is among the world’s most seismically active nations. The country experiences roughly 1,500 earthquakes each year, most of them minor, with impacts varying widely depending on depth and location.