Strong earthquakes hit Japan, trigger tsunami alert

A pair of earthquakes — one a magnitude 7.3 — hit off the coast of Japan Wednesday evening, triggering a tsunami advisory.

The advisory warns of a sea surge of up to a metre in parts of the Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, north east of Tokyo.

The quakes struck just before midnight in Japan — which is just about 8 a.m. PT.

“First a magnitude 6.4 at 14:34 UTC and then this was followed by the larger 7.3 at 14:36 UTC — so that’s about two minutes later, and fairly close to the same area,” explained Andrew Schaeffer with the Geological Survey of Canada.

Notable quake, preliminary info: M 7.3 – 57 km ENE of Namie, Japan https://t.co/amVavuyvwE

— USGS Earthquakes (@USGS_Quakes) March 16, 2022

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the earthquakes struck 60 kilometers below the sea. More than two million homes have lost power as a result.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or any major damage. Shaking could be felt in Tokyo and as far south as Hamamatsu, which is located southeast of Nagoya.

“This one was huge and really scary so it’s the reason I immediately decided to hide under my desk because it could have been dangerous. I have big bookshelves just behind me and I was scared they would fall on me,” said Marine Kerala Savary, who lives in Tokyo, of the larger quake.

My biggest earthquake in Japan since I moved out here in 2017.
It just happened few minutes ago..#japanearthquake #Earthquake pic.twitter.com/tlJLgfNbkP

— Kerala77777 (@kerala77777) March 16, 2022

“One minute before there was another small earthquake — and I recorded it too. Then I sent my friend a message, I told them, ‘Oh I recorded the first one!’ And then the second one happened and I recorded it again. It was even worse. I kept saying ‘Okay, okay,’ because I was trying to calm [myself down,]” she told CityNews.

Savary says she could hear police sirens in the moments after the quake. She was not hurt and notes many of her friends — in Japan and abroad — were quick to reach out and check on her.

Having spent many years in Japan, Savary says, in her experience, the strongest earthquakes always seem to hit late at night.

Earthquake comes days after 11-year anniversary of Tohoku disaster

The region affected Wednesday is part of the area that was devastated by a deadly 9.0 earthquake and tsunami just more than a decade ago.

Wednesday’s earthquakes came just days after the 11-year anniversary of the catastrophic seismic event, which also caused a nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings said on Wednesday that workers were checking the nuclear plant for any signs of possible damage.

The 2011 Tohoku earthquake triggered a tsunami that hit the coast in just 30 minutes. Thousands of people were killed and many others remain missing.

The waves that were generated on March 11, 2011 recorded a maximum height of almost 40 metres in the Iwate Prefecture, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Wednesday’s earthquakes did not result in any tsunami warnings along the west coast of Canada and the U.S.

However, they do serve as a reminder to those who live around the “Ring of Fire.”

“The best thing we can do is just be prepared — have our emergency preparedness kit, our emergency plans in place. This serves as one of those constant reminders of what may happen or what will happen one day here,” Schaeffer said of the B.C. and U.S. coasts.

-With files from The Associated Press