Credit USGS
# 6767
While there are no immediate reports of injuries or damage, the 7.3 Magnitude quake that struck offshore at 5:18 p.m. (0818 GMT) Friday reportedly spawned a small (1 meter) tsunami at Ishinomaki, in Miyagi, and shook buildings across northern Japan.
Tsunami warnings have all now been canceled.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued this advisory shortly after the quake.
TSUNAMI INFORMATION STATEMENT NUMBER 1
NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI
1026 PM HST THU DEC 06 2012TO - CIVIL DEFENSE IN THE STATE OF HAWAII
SUBJECT - TSUNAMI INFORMATION STATEMENT
THIS STATEMENT IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY. NO ACTION REQUIRED.
AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS
ORIGIN TIME - 1018 PM HST 06 DEC 2012
COORDINATES - 37.7 NORTH 144.6 EAST
LOCATION - OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU JAPAN
MAGNITUDE - 7.3 MOMENTEVALUATION
BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA A DESTRUCTIVE PACIFIC-WIDE TSUNAMI IS NOT EXPECTED AND THERE IS NO TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII. REPEAT. A
DESTRUCTIVE PACIFIC-WIDE TSUNAMI IS NOT EXPECTED AND THERE IS NO TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII.THIS WILL BE THE ONLY STATEMENT ISSUED FOR THIS EVENT UNLESS ADDITIONAL DATA ARE RECEIVED.
Since this quake, there have been a number of moderate aftershocks recorded, the largest coming in at 6.2.
Credit USGS
The epicenter of this quake was more than 300 km east of the stricken Fukashima Daiichi nuclear plant, which was heavily damaged during the March 2011 quake & tsunami, and where efforts are still underway to safely remove spent fuel rods.
One of the concerns of the recovery operation has been that another powerful quake could occur close enough to the damaged nuclear facility to imperil the safe decommissioning of the nuclear plant.
Shortly after the quake, a TEPCO spokesperson indicated here were no problems at any of the nuclear plants operated by Fukushima Dai-Ichi (see USA Today article.
