Strong 7.8 quake strikes off Japan’s remote Bonin Islands
A 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck in the ocean off Japan's remote Bonin Islands at 11:23 GMT on Saturday, USGS reports. There have been no immediate reports of casualties or damage, nor any tsunami alert.
The populated area closest to the quake's epicenter is the Japanese island of Chichi-Shima with a population of about 2,000 people. It is 189 kilometers from the impact point.
The quake hit at a profound depth of almost 677 kilometers below the ocean bed. The Japan Meteorological Agency said there was no danger of a tsunami. The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center also issued a statement saying "a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected and there is no threat to Hawaii."
Quake took a toll on liquor section at my supermarket in Saitama: pic.twitter.com/sauq7YWgYi
— Alan Nishimura (@AsiaChaos) May 30, 2015
Tremors are being felt as far as Tokyo, 870 kilometers from the epicenter, witnesses report. Videos and photos they posted on social media show shaking walls and goods toppling from shop shelves.
Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, said the earthquake did not affect the facility. TEPCO is currently cleaning up the consequences of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, which damaged Fukushima's reactors and cased a meltdown and a radioactive spill.
