Japan, earthquake 7 Richter
tsunami warning returned to Okinawa

TOKYO – A magnitude 7 earthquake struck southern Japan at 5.31 am local time. The epicenter was recorded 84 kilometers east of Naha, on the southern island of Okinawa, just 29 kilometers below the surface of the sea. After about an hour the tsunami alarm returned, initially branched out for waves up to 2 meters. The Japanese Meteorological Agency has turned into an ‘advisory’, that is, an invitation to be cautious because anomalous waves of a maximum height of 50 centimeters could be registered in the islands of Okinawa, Amami, Tokara, Daitojima, Miyakojima and Yaeyama.

The television news reports have not reported deaths or injuries and do not resume panic scenes.

The surveys of the extent of the earthquake vary slightly depending on the institution that registered them. For the US Geological Observatory (UsGs) the earthquake reached 7 degrees. According to the Japanese meteorological agent, instead, the earthquake had an intensity equal to 7.3 degrees. According to the UsGs there is no danger of tsunami for the west coast of the United States.

Japan is an area of ​​very high seismic risk. The country is affected by about 20% of the total earthquakes of magnitude of over 6 degrees in the world. In October 2004, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck the Niigata region in northern Japan, killing 65 people and wounding them over three thousand. Before that, the most catastrophic earthquake in the country was that of 7.3 degrees with its epicenter in Kobe, which in 1995 made over 6,400 victims.

(February 26, 2010)