Tsunami alert after strong earthquake strikes off Japan’s Miyako Islands (Update)
October 4th, 2010 - 9:11 pm ICT by BNO NewsTOKYO (BNO NEWS) — Japan on late Monday evening issued a tsunami alert for some of its coastlines after a strong earthquake struck off the Miyako Islands, part of the country’s Ryukyu Islands.
The 6.4-magnitude earthquake at 10.28 p.m. local time (1328 GMT) was centered approximately 70 miles (113 kilometers) east of Ishigaki-jima, a city in Okinawa Prefecture. It struck about 22.3 miles (35.9 kilometers) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).
Immediately after the earthquake, a tsunami alert was issued for the Miyakojima and Yaeyama Area of the Ryukyu Islands. JMA said a tsunami of around 0.5 meters (1.6 feet) was expected.
“It is estimated that a tsunami has already arrived there,” JMA said in a bulletin. “Note the actual tsunamis can be higher than our estimation at some parts of the coasts.”
Moderate earthquake shaking could be felt throughout the islands group, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) measured the strength of the earthquake at 6.3 on the Richter scale, slightly weaker than the locally reported magnitude. It estimated that approximately 55,000 people may have felt moderate earthquake shaking, but said the likelihood of casualties and damage was low.
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Tags: bno, casualties, coastlines, coasts, earthquake strikes, ishigaki, japan meteorological agency, kilometers, magnitude earthquake, miyako, miyakojima, moderate earthquake, okinawa prefecture, richter scale, ryukyu islands, shallow earthquake, tsunami alert, tsunamis, united states geological, united states geological survey