Massive magnitude 7.4 earthquake rattles northern Japan as threat downgraded to Tsunami Advisory for coast
A magnitude 7.4 struck off the coast of northern Japan just before 5 p.m. local time on Monday, according to the USGS. Japan's government has issued Tsunami Warnings for prefectures along the east coast of Japan's main island, Honshu.
MIYAKO, Japan — A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck off the coast of northern Japan just before 5 p.m. local time on Monday, according to the USGS. Japan's government issued Tsunami Warnings for prefectures along the east coast of Japan's main island, Honshu.
Tsunami Warnings were also in effect for the northern island of Hokkaido. People within these warnings were told to evacuate to higher ground.
Those warnings were downgraded to a Tsunami Advisory for waves of up to 3 feet, shortly after 8 p.m. That's after the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said tsunami wave heights of approximately 9.8 feet were expected shortly after the quake for Iwate Prefecture and Hokkaido.
There's no tsunami threat for Hawaii or Guam, according to NOAA's U.S. Tsunami Warning System.
The quake was centered 62 miles east-northeast of Miyako, some 6 miles below the surface.
The JMA warned that earthquakes of similar magnitude could follow in the next 2–3 days.
According to the USGS, Japan records more earthquakes than any other country due to its location on the active Pacific Ring of Fire — the massive, 25,000-mile ring of volcanoes and tectonic plate boundaries where 90 percent of the world's earthquakes occur.
Check back for updates on this developing story.
The post Massive magnitude 7.4 earthquake rattles northern Japan as threat downgraded to Tsunami Advisory for coast appeared first on Fox Weather
