6.1 magnitude earthquake strikes off central Japan, no tsunami advisory

Tokyo, Nov 14: A 6.1-magnitude earthquake was detected off central Japan on Monday, shaking Tokyo and other cities, officials said, but no tsunami warning was issued, as reported by AFP.

The epicentre of the quake was off central Mie prefecture with a depth of about 350 kilometres (217 miles), the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The quake measured 4 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale in some parts of Fukushima and Ibaraki prefectures.

The earthquake was not far from the epicenter of the 1498 and 1854 big earthquakes.

The 1498 Meiō earthquake occurred off the coast of Nankaidō, Japan, at about 08:00 local time on 20 September 1498. It had a magnitude estimated at 8.6 Mₛ and triggered a large tsunami. The death toll associated with this event is uncertain, but between 5,000 and 41,000 casualties were reported.

The 1854 Tōkai earthquake was the first of the Ansei great earthquakes. It occurred at about 09:00 local time on 23 December 1854. It had a magnitude of 8.4 and caused a damaging tsunami. More than 10,000 buildings were destroyed and there were at least 2,000 casualties.

Earlier on Mar 17, a powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Fukushima in northern Japan where 4 people and over 90 persons have been injured.