'Severe' Magnitude 6.3 Earthquake Strikes Japan in Southern Inland Sea

By Eric Chen

An earthquake with magnitude 6.3 struck Japan in the inland sea separating the largest island of Honshu from the southern islands of Kyushu and Shikoku on March 13, 2014, the US Geological Survey reported Thursday afternoon.

The epicenter of the quake is located 31 miles NNE of Kyushu and 37 miles SSE of Yamaguchi, Honshu, 61 miles west of Matsuyama, Shikoku, and 375 miles SE of Seoul, South Korea, according to U.S. Geological Survey.

Japan Earthquake March 13
Japan Earthquake March 13

The earthquake struck at 2:06 a.m. on Friday (17:06 UTC).

No reports of damage or casualties have immediately followed. The USGS has released a 'green' alert, reporting "low likelihood of casualties and damage."

So far no tsunami warning has been issued.

According to RT.com, local TV reports of fire in Shunan city, on the east coast of Honshua, none are hazardous. In addition, the Shimane Nuclear Power Plant, located some 250 kilometers northeast of Shunan also confirmed that there have been no abnormalities caused by the quake.

The 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck just three days after the third anniversary of the Fukushima earthquake on April 11, 2011 and subsequent tsunami which caused the melt down of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plants in Japan.

The magnitude-9 earthquake in Japan which was followed by a tsunami that had waves over 100 feet high claimed over 15,800 lives and over 2,600 people have been reported missing. In addition, the financial loss from the combined disasters was over $235 billion, making them the most expensive catastrophes in history.

Related: Three Years after Fukushima Earthquake, Displaced Families in Japan Still In Need [Pictures] 

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