A fresh jolt rattled northern Japan on Friday as a 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck off the Pacific coast — the second strong tremor this week — prompting a tsunami advisory and reviving concerns in a region still on edge after Monday’s more powerful quake.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said the offshore quake, initially estimated at magnitude 6.5, was later upgraded to 6.7. The agency also warned that tsunami waves up to one metre (three feet) could reach parts of the northern Pacific coastline.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) confirmed the magnitude and reported that the epicentre was about 130 kilometres (81 miles) off the city of Kuji in Iwate prefecture on Honshu island.
Public broadcaster NHK reported that Friday’s tremor caused weaker shaking compared to the 7.5-magnitude quake on Monday, which had injured at least 50 people, toppled items from shelves, shattered windows, damaged roads, and triggered tsunami waves up to 70 centimetres.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority said it had detected no abnormal activity at nuclear facilities in the region following the latest quake.
After Monday’s powerful tremor, the JMA issued a rare special advisory, warning residents that another earthquake of equal or greater strength was possible for one week. The advisory applied to the Sanriku region on northeastern Honshu and parts of Hokkaido along the Pacific coast.
Northern Japan continues to live under the shadow of the 2011 9.0-magnitude undersea earthquake, which unleashed a devastating tsunami that left around 18,500 people dead or missing and caused the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
The report also noted that in August 2024, the JMA had issued another special advisory—its first—warning of a potential “megaquake” along the Nankai Trough, an 800-kilometre (500-mile) undersea trench where the Philippine Sea plate subducts beneath Japan’s continental plate. Government assessments have estimated that a major quake in the trough and the ensuing tsunami could kill as many as 298,000 people and cause up to $2 trillion in economic damage.
Although last year’s advisory was lifted after a week, it triggered panic-buying of essentials such as rice and led to widespread holiday booking cancellations.
Japan, which sits atop four major tectonic plates along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” experiences around 1,500 earthquakes each year. Most are minor, though the impact varies depending on depth and location.
