Tsunami advisory issued for eastern Japan coasts after 6.6 M quake

Japan Meteorological Agency has issued a tsunami alert after an earthquake of magnitude 6.6 on the Richter scale hit the outlying islands in the Pacific Ocean on Thursday. The warning said that the waves can reach up to one meter in height.

The citizens on the islands in the Izu chain have been asked to be cautious and to stay away from coasts and river mouths as per the second-lowest of a four-stage warning system. The Izu chain of islands stretches south from the Tokyo region on the main Japanese island of Honshu.

Japan tsunami

The Japan Meteorological Agency said an offshore earthquake measuring magnitude 6.6 occurred late Thursday morning in the area at a depth of 10 kilometres, with the epicentre about 550 km (340 miles) south of Tokyo. A smaller tsunami of 30 centimetres in height was observed at the Yaene area on the Hachijo island, the agency said.

“A 1-meter wave may not seem significant…. But encountering such a wave can be extremely dangerous and it can sweep you off your feet,” a Meteorological Agency representative said at a news conference.

Press release by Japan Meteorological Agency

The Japan Meteorological Agency made two press releases regarding the tsunami today, and have mentioned preventive measures that should be followed to avoid any disaster.

【報道発表】（R5.10.5）令和５年10月５日11時00分頃の鳥島近海の地震について報道発表を行いました。#いのちとくらしをまもる防災減災https://t.co/UgZ1uPjjLQ

— 気象庁 (@JMA_kishou) October 5, 2023

The report also mentioned future predictions and wrote “In past cases, 10 to 20% of earthquakes of the same magnitude occurred after a major earthquake, so please be on the lookout for earthquakes of the same magnitude for about a week after the earthquake”

Japan is one of the most earthquake prone regions of the world. In 2011 a massive earthquake hit the island nation causing a tsunami that destroyed huge swaths of northern Japan and caused a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant.