A strong one earthquake of magnitude 7.6 hit the Japan at 11.15pm (local time, 3.15pm in Italy) yesterday. According to the USGS, the epicenter has been located at seaabout 70 km from the coast of Misawa (Aomori Prefecture), one depth Of 44km. The Japan Meteorological Agency initially issued a tsunami warning of a higher level, warning of the possibility of waves up to 3 meters high. After a while, the alert was lifted by the JMA, even though small rogue waves of 40 cm were detected at Urakawa (Hokkaido) and in the port of Mutsu Ogawara (Aomori).
As a precaution, the authorities have anyway evacuated approximately 94,600 people in Hokkaido, Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi prefectures and in some areas of Samemachi. The shock was clearly felt until Tokyowhich is located about 700 km from the epicenter, with numerous video And reports on social media of the inhabitants who ran into the street even though it was night. According to what was reported by the local broadcaster NHK – which published the video below – there would be approximately 30 injured due to broken glass and fallen objects in a hotel in Hachinohe (Aomori Prefecture), while no other significant damage was reported.
As also recorded by the INGV, the first earthquake was followed by two other tremors: the Before of magnitude 5.5recorded at 03:56 local time (19:56 in Italy) and detected at a depth of 31 km, and the second of magnitude 6.7, recorded at 06:52 local time (10:52 pm in Italy) at a depth of just 9 km.
From a geological point of view, Japan is an extremely seismic country, being the result of clash of tectonic plates: specifically, it is the Pacific plate, which subducts under the North American plate. This active tectonic context translates into the presence of thousands of compressional faults, the reactivation of which can generate frequent and intense earthquakes.
The country, among other things, is located within the so-called “Ring of Fire”, i.e. the band of the planet most affected by volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.
