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.
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.
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.
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