A strong aftershock of the March 11 Tohoku quake rattled Japan on Sunday, shaking homes and injuring at least seven people. A 6.4 magnitude quake was registered on Sunday at 3:53 a.m. local time by the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake was registered at a depth of 27 miles and was centered off the coast of Honshu, 11 miles east-southeast of Iwaki.
Earthquake-report.com reported seven people were injured by this quake. Several people reported being awakened by the shaking and injuries were reported from Sendai, Mito, Koriyama, Hitachi Omiyma and Chikusei. Nuclear power plants in Fukushima are reporting that there was no damage sustained due to this earthquake.
Damage potential from this quake had potential to be extremely dangerous when the severe weather in the area is factored in. Currently, heavy rain and overflowing rivers in the Fukushima and Niigata prefectures are creating hazards -- add in a sizable earthquake and you have a recipe for disaster.
More than 200,000 people had already been evacuated into shelters in several municipalities and two prefectures as of Saturday evening before this quake occurred. At least 3,000 homes have already been flooded and at least six people are dead or missing due to flooding. Parts of Japan have received more than twice the amount of rain in a three-day time period as is normally received during the entire month of July. A damaging earthquake right now would add to the already dangerous conditions.
The area of Iwaki was struck by a larger aftershock measuring 7.1 in magnitude just one month after the devastating 9.0 earthquake on March 11. That quake triggered a small tsunami and was at a much shallower depth -- 6.2 miles -- than Sunday's quake.
Farther north, a 5.5 magnitude quake shook early Monday at 2:35 a.m. local time. This temblor was centered in the Hokkaido region, about 80 miles south-southwest of Obihiro. Hokkaido is Japan's second largest and northernmost island.
In 2003, an 8.3 magnitude earthquake struck offshore from Hokkaido, triggering a tsunami that injured more than 500 people and resulted in significant damage to communities along the coast. Another large quake that registered 8.1 occurred in a similar area in 1952.
Monday afternoon saw a 5.9 quake near the southern coast of Honshu, about 19 miles south of Shizuoka. This quake was also felt in Tokyo, about 101 miles to the northeast.
Tammy Lee Morris is certified as a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) member and is a trained Skywarn Stormspotter through the National Weather Service. She has received interpretive training regarding the New Madrid Seismic Zone through EarthScope -- a program of the National Science Foundation. She researches and writes about earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes, weather and other natural phenomena.
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