Heightened alert issued as heavy rain hits Japan’s Okinawa
Japan's weather agency on Sunday urged Okinawa residents to be on high alert for mudslides and other disasters as torrential rains are drenching the country's southernmost prefecture.
An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale on Saturday struck off the west coast of Japan’s Ogasawara Islands.
Japan Meteorological Agency said that the tremor occurred with its epicenter at a latitude of 27.2 degrees north and a longitude of 140.7 degrees east, and at depth of 490 km, according to the media report.
No tsunami warning has been issued so far.
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There were no reports of any damages or casualties.
Earlier this year, 5.9 magnitude earthquake jolted the east coast of Japan’s Chiba Prefecture, no tsunami warning had been issued.
Last year, in June, at least 16 people were injured after a strong 6.4 magnitude earthquake hit Japan, that issued a tsunami advisory later.
In 2018, a 5.6-magnitude earthquake rocked western Japan that left five people injured and damaged buildings and roads.
Japan sits on the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire” where a large proportion of the worlds earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are recorded.
A devastating magnitude 9.0 quake — which struck under the Pacific Ocean on March 11, 2011 — and a resulting tsunami caused widespread damage and claimed the lives of thousands of people.
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