M7.2 quake hits northeastern Japan

TOKYO

A powerful quake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.2 shook eastern and northeastern Japan on Saturday evening, and the government initially warned tsunami of up to 1 meter could hit parts of Miyagi Prefecture's coastal areas.

The temblor occurred at 6:09 p.m. about 60 kilometers below the surface off the coast of Miyagi, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The agency called off the tsunami warning at 7:30 p.m.

Its focus, about 20 kilometers off the Ojika Peninsula in Miyagi, was relatively close to that of the magnitude-7.3 temblor in mid-February which rocked Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures and injured over 150 people.

It also came just over a week after northeastern Japan marked the 10th anniversary of the devastating quake and tsunami which triggered the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

There has been one report of an injury in Miyagi Prefecture, according to a local fire department, but no structural damage has been reported. Television footage on public broadcaster NHK showed no abnormalities at coastal or urban areas in Miyagi where the quake hit hardest.

The quake registered upper 5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in parts of Miyagi, smaller than the mid-February quake which recorded upper 6 in Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures. It was also felt in Tokyo.

No abnormalities were found at nuclear plants in eastern and northeastern Japan, according to their operators, while JR East said it temporarily suspended operation of the Tohoku Shinkansen bullet train services.

Evacuation orders were issued to some 8,850 residents in coastal areas in Miyagi, according to the prefectural government.

Shinji Toda, professor of geophysics at Tohoku University, said the latest earthquake could have caused large tsunami if its focus had been shallow.