A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck off the west coast of Japan's Ogasawara Islands on Monday at a depth of about 500 kilometres, with no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck off the west coast of Japan's Ogasawara Islands on Monday, Qatar News Agency reported, citing the Japan Meteorological Agency. The agency put the depth at approximately 500 kilometres.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or material damage. The great depth helps explain the absence of early damage reports, although the reporting does not give a felt-intensity assessment for inhabited islands.
This was a separate event from the magnitude 6.5 earthquake that struck Japan's Bonin Islands the previous night, which the same report notes. The Bonin Islands are the English name for the Ogasawara chain, but the two reports describe different magnitudes, depths and days, and they are treated here as two distinct earthquakes.
The magnitude, location and depth come from the Japan Meteorological Agency as carried by QNA, and no second independent measurement was available in the material checked. The absence of damage reports is an early position, not a final assessment, and it could change as local authorities complete checks.
Japan sits at the junction of four tectonic plates and has about 100 active volcanoes, which is why even deep offshore earthquakes are reported promptly. The next update to watch for is any revised magnitude or depth from the meteorological agency, and any local report from the Ogasawara islands themselves.