Earthquake Today: Magnitude 6.9 Quake Hits Japan (VIDEO)
A powerful 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck off the shores of Japan’s southern Okinawa Island Tuesday.
Magnitude 6.9 Earthquake Hits near Japan, No Threat of Tsunami
Initial reports stated that the quake, which occurred at 11:59 a.m. local time, struck about 135 miles northwest of Naha, Okinawa, and 309 miles from Taipei, Taiwan, according to the United States Geological Survey.
Despite the trembler’s strength, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not issue any alerts.
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On March 11, 2011 northeastern Japan was left devastated when a massive earthquake and tsunami struck and left just under 20,000 people dead.
Reportedly the vibrations from the March 11 quake and resulting tsunami waves traveled towards upper atmosphere, the ionosphere, where they were amplified to thousands of times their original sizes, the National Geographic News reported.
The tremendous tsunami waves resulting from the quake reached as far as Hawaii, Alaska and the Oregon coast.
The ramifications of the quake are still being felt by Japan today. The catastrophic event destroyed the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which caused the massive mobilization of thousands of people from contaminated regions affected by the quake.
The destruction is regarded as causing the worst nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl nuclear power plant catastrophe of 1986.
