Japan’s northern was rocked by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake on Thursday, but officials said there were no reports of injuries and there is no danger of a tsunami.
Japan's meteorological agency said the quake was located far off the northeastern coast of Japan's northern main island of Hokkaido, according to ABC. It was centered 100 miles below the ocean's surface and east of Etorofu island, a Russian-held island also claimed by Japan.
M6.9 earthquake just now beneath the Kuril Islands (between Hokkaido & Kamchatka). Depth of 150 km and normal faulting mechanism -> intra-slab 'bending' event in subducted Pacific plate (slab top is at ~100km). Deep hypocentre so will have been felt widely across northern Japan. pic.twitter.com/KwyIIpO4JP
— Stephen Hicks 🇪🇺 (@seismo_steve) February 13, 2020
There are 56 islands in the disputed chain, which separates the Sea of Okhotsk from the north Pacific Ocean, but most of them are minor rock formations.
Wow! Huge earthquake just off Hokkaido about an hour ago! Luckily it was far off shore but I'm sure it was still pretty strong in Hokkaido! 😱 #Earthquakes #magnitude7 #マグニチュード7 #Japan #Hokkaido #BeSafe #scary #shakey #地震 pic.twitter.com/Qw2lbexr9o
— Gill Tidgwell (@TidgwellGill) February 13, 2020
They are part of what is called the Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of fault lines circling the Pacific Basin prone to frequent and large earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
If you are wondering which part of the world this #earthquake is happening, the large Island at the bottom left is actually the North Eastern part of the Island of Hokkaido, Japan.
— Peter Mount (@peter_mount) February 13, 2020
It's pretty deep however at 163km https://t.co/BbcZBiiyr7
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