Japan issues tsunami warning after 6.7 magnitude earthquake

Japan has issued a tsunami advisory for Iwate Prefecture following a magnitude 6.7 earthquake that struck off the coast on Sunday evening (November 9), measuring a 4 on Japan's own seismic intensity scale. Waves of up to one metre (3ft) are possible along the Iwate coast, the Japan Meteorological Agency has warned.

The quake struck around 5.03 pm (8.03 am GMT), with the epicentre located approximately 6 miles deep. Between November 8 and 9, at least five earthquakes measuring over magnitude 5.0 struck the North Pacific Ocean near Iwate. No damage or casualties have been reported. Seismologists have attributed the swarm to tectonic stress in the Japan Trench, an area affected by the 2011 Tohoku disaster.

Earthquakes are very common in Japan, accounting for about one-fifth of the world's tremors of magnitude 6.0 or above. This is because the country is located on the Ring of Fire, a highly active seismic and volcanic zone where several tectonic plates meet. Japan experiences thousands of tremors annually and is statistically one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. The country experiences around 1,500 earthquakes per year, or roughly two to three per day.

The 2011 Thoku earthquake was one of the country's most devastating, measuring 9.0 magnitude off the coast of the Oshika Peninsula of the Thoku region. It lasted approximately six minutes and caused a deadly tsunami. In total, just under 20,000 people died, with another 6,200 injured and 2,500 people missing. 99% of all deaths occurred in the coastal areas of Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures.

Iwate is a large prefecture on the northeastern coast of Honshu, Japan's main island. It is the second largest prefecture, behind Hokkaido, at 5,898 square miles and is home to a population of just under 1.2 million as of July 2023. Iwate Prefecture borders Aomori Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefecture to the west and Miyagi Prefecture to the south.