Washington/Tokyo: A strong earthquake rattled southern Japan on Monday, the United States Geological Survey reported.
The notable quake registered a preliminary magnitude of 6.9, the USGS said and was recorded at sea about seven miles southeast of the city of Miyazaki.
Located on the island of Kyushu, Miyazaki is about 700 miles southeast of Tokyo. Per its last census, the city has a population of about 4000,000 people.
The quake happened at 9:19 p.m. local time, data from the agency shows.
It was not immediately known if anyone was injured or whether any structures on land had been damaged.
Data provided by USGS showed the earthquake was just over 22 miles deep.
Tsunami advisories for waves up to about 3.5 feet were issued for the southern prefectures of Miyazaki and Kochi, online data also shows.
A 20-centimeter tsunami was later recorded reaching Miyazaki city, public broadcaster NHK reported.
There were no issues reported at the Ikata Nuclear Power Plant in western Japan or the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant in Kagoshima prefecture, the outlet reported. The plants are closest to where the quake took place.
In August, Japan issued its “first-ever advisory of higher-than-usual risks of a megaquake” after a strong quake took place in a seabed zone along the Pacific coast known as the Nankai Trough, Reuters reported Monday.
The Japan Meteorological Agency reported it was investigating whether the quake was related to the Nankai Trough, NHK said first reported Monday. Later, the outlet reported the agency said experts had finished assessing the possibility of a massive earthquake in that region and “concluded that special precautionary measures are not needed.”
