6.1 earthquake in Japan

BREAKING: Japan struck by mega earthquake - centre to the north of Okinawan Islands

TheExpress,

13 July, 2019

The United States Geological Survey confirmed the tremor hit north of the Okinawan islands. The islands are part of the wider Ryukyu Islands chain and are south of the main Japanese islands of Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. There are no confirmed reports of casualties or damage.

The earthquake hit a depth of 160 miles about 215 miles north of Naha.

The city is the capital of the Okinawa Prefecture which has a population of around 320,000.

Okinawa is located within the ring of fire basin

It is also considered to be the birthplace of several martial arts including karate.

The region which encompasses the edges of the Pacific Ocean is prone to large earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

This is because of the high tectonic activity.

Japan is within close proximity to the Kurile, Japan, Azu Ogasawara, Ryukyu and Philippine trenches.

The reading on the richter scale classifies the latest earthquake as strong.

This means potential damage to well-built structures in populated areas but earthquake resistant buildings which are common in Japan should have slight to moderate damage.

It can still be felt up to 100 mile from the epicentre.

Near the centre, the shaking would be violet and strong.

A February 2010 hit Okinawa at a magnitude of 7.0 resulting in one death.