An earthquake of magnitude 5.9 occurred Thursday off the coast of Japan and another, of magnitude 5.5, a few hours later in New Zealand, according to the American Geophysical Institute (USGS). The epicenter of the first earthquake was detected at a depth of 25 kilometers, about 40 kilometers from Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo, but no tsunami alert was launched. The Japanese meteorological agency for its part assessed the magnitude at 6.2, while specifying on its website that it posed "no risk of tsunami".
No material damage
The quake, which occurred at 4:47 local time (19:47 GMT), was felt in the suburbs of Tokyo, according to Japanese media. The second earthquake in New Zealand occurred at 10:20 a.m. (10:20 p.m. GMT) off the coast of the remote Milford Sound region on the South Island. The New Zealand seismology service GeoNet estimated the earthquake at 5.9, compared to 5.5 for the USGS. The earthquake was felt by the population, but without causing any material damage according to the police.
Japan and New Zealand are on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of intense seismic activity that spans across Southeast Asia and the Pacific Rim. In March 2011, a devastating earthquake of magnitude 9.0 shook the Japanese archipelago before a gigantic tidal wave hit the northeast coast of the country, killing nearly 16,000 people and triggering the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster. In New Zealand, an earthquake measuring 6.3 killed 185 people in February 2011 in Christchurch, on the South Island. In November 2016, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Kaikoura, on the coast further north, was the second most powerful ever recorded in the country, but only killed two people.