SAEDNEWS: The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has lifted a tsunami advisory for northern Japan’s Pacific coast that had been issued after an earthquake shook the region, national broadcaster NHK reported, days after a larger tremor injured at least 50 people.
A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck off the coast of Aomori Prefecture on Friday at 11:44 a.m. local time (02:44 GMT) at a depth of 20 kilometers (12.4 miles), Japan’s Meteorological Agency (JMA) reported, according to the national broadcaster.
The JMA said two 20-centimeter tsunami waves were observed in the town of Erimo on Hokkaido’s northern island at 12:35 p.m. (03:35 GMT), followed by another wave three minutes later in the Aomori region. NHK reported no significant changes at either port.
Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority confirmed that there were no immediate signs of abnormalities at the region’s nuclear facilities, Al Jazeera reported.
NHK noted that the shaking from Friday’s quake was milder than a magnitude 7.5 earthquake that struck the same region on Monday, which damaged roads, shattered windows, and triggered tsunami waves up to 70 centimeters.
After Monday’s quake, which injured at least 50 people, the JMA issued a rare special advisory, warning residents from Hokkaido in the north to Chiba east of Tokyo to remain alert for the possibility of another powerful earthquake within a week.
The northeast region still remembers the devastating 9.0-magnitude undersea quake in 2011, which generated a tsunami that killed or left missing approximately 18,500 people.
In 2024, the JMA issued its first special advisory for the southern half of Japan’s Pacific coast, alerting residents to a potential “megaquake” along the Nankai Trough. Government estimates warn that such an event could kill up to 298,000 people and cause as much as $2 trillion in damage.
Amid fears of a “megaquake,” NHK reported on Thursday that residents in northeastern Japan were stocking up on emergency supplies, including torches, water storage tanks, and furniture support poles to prevent tipping during tremors.
Japan sits atop four major tectonic plates along the western edge of the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and is one of the world’s most seismically active countries, experiencing roughly 1,500 earthquakes annually.
