Japan earthquake today - An earthquake of 7.2 magnitude has struck off the coast of Japan today 9th March 2011 in the morning, shaking buildings in the capital, Tokyo, and triggering a small tsunami. According to the local meteorological agency, the earthquake occurred at about 11:45 Japanese time and was centered at at about 150 km off the north east coast and approximately 440 km to the North East of Tokyo.
The epicenter of the earthquake is reported to have been at about a depth of 10km. The tremor was centred 168km (104 miles) from the east coast, north-east of Tokyo.
Japan is well-prepared for quakes which often hit the seismically active area. An aftershock measuring 6.3 magnitude struck after the main quake, Japan's meteorological agency said, followed by a series of smaller aftershocks.
Some train services in the area were temporarily halted after the quake, but they were restarted shortly after noon.
Tohoku Electric Power said its Onagawa nuclear plant was operating normally after the quake and Tokyo Electric Power also said its power supplies were unaffected.
There are no significant reports of injuries and damages. The US Geological Survey however has some other different data about this earthquake. According to the agency, the 7.2 magnitude quake occurred at a depth of about 14.1 km and about 168km to the east of Sendai.
While the tsunami warning predicted a possible tsunami of about 50 cm to hit to the coast of Japan, at noon (local time) a 60cm (approx) tsunami affected the coast of the town of Ofunato in Iwate. A pacific wide tsunami is however not predicted. An emergency and disaster response talk person in Iwate confirmed that indeed a small tsunami hit the shores but no damage have been confirmed or reported.
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