Japan Earthquake

Guide Note

On May 8, 2008 a series of earthquakes centered in the Pacific Ocean east of Tokyo rocked Japan.

At at 1:45 am a 6.8 magnitude quake hit after residents experienced 4.5 hours of temblors measuring 5 or greater on the Richter Scale.

Slight changes in sea levels are possible but no tsunami warning has been issued.

Japan is particularly prone to earthquakes because it lies above four tectonic plates, the Eurasian, Pacific, Philippine and North American.

Fast Facts

1. Japan experiences about 20 % of yearly, worldwide earthquakes
2. Measured 5 on Japanese scale of 7
3. Six injuries reported
4. 1995: 6.9 magnitude quake killed nearly 5,500 in Kobe, Japan,

6.6 gallons of radioactive water leaked into a turbine building in a reactor at the #2 unit of the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant, one of Tokyo Electric Power Company's (TEPCO) nuclear plants.

The reactor was shut down for routine maintenance prior to the earthquake and it's unclear if the quake caused the leak.

Officials say the leak poses no harm to the environment.

The Japanese city of Iwaki was struck by a 6.2 magnitude earthquake on November 26, 2007.

1. Center of the tremor located 45 miles northeast of Iwaki
2. Registered a depth of 24.2 miles
3. Followed deadly tremors in eastern Indonesia, killing at least three people and injured 45 others on November 25