A 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Miyazaki prefecture on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu on Thursday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, issuing a tsunami warning for Kyushu and the neighboring island of Shikoku, APA reports citing The Washington Post.
Although the expected height of the tsunami is only 1 meter, the waves can grow exponentially very quickly.
Japan Rail suspended bullet train services as a precaution, but no abnormalities were detected at the Sendai nuclear plant on Kyushu, state broadcaster NHK reported.
While Japan, which sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” is no stranger to earthquakes, large tremors on the coast cause particular alarm because of the propensity to cause tsunamis.
Memories of the magnitude 9 earthquake that struck the Tohoku region on the east coast in 2011, causing a devastating tsunami that claimed almost 20,000 lives, remain raw in Japan. It also caused the meltdown of three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
There had been a magnitude 6.9 earthquake recorded in Miyazaki Prefecture earlier in the day Thursday.
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