Moderately strong quake hits off central Japan

This photo taken on January 9, 2024 shows a clock stopped at the time the quake and tsunami hit the area, at a damaged home near the disaster-hit town of Noto, Ishikawa prefecture, after a major 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck the Noto region in Ishikawa prefecture on New Year’s Day. FILE PHOTO/JIJI PRESS/Agence France-Presse

TOKYO — A moderately strong magnitude-6.6 earthquake struck off the coast of central Japan Tuesday night, rattling an area still traumatized by a devastating January jolt.

No tsunami alert was issued and there were no immediate reports of damage.

A woman in her 70s was later reported injured in the town of Tsubata, Kyodo news agency reported, citing the prefectural government.

READ: Massive earthquake jolts Japan, residents rush to evacuate coast

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake hit at a depth of seven kilometers at 10:47 pm off the Noto Peninsula.

It originally gave the quake a provisional magnitude of 6.4 and a depth of 10 kilometers.

“This earthquake may cause slight changes to sea levels along the coast of Japan, but there is no expectation of damage”, Japan’s Cabinet Office said on social media platform X.

No abnormality has been detected in a local nuclear power plant, public broadcaster NHK quoted nuclear regulation authorities as saying.

READ: Japan earthquake death toll exceeds 100, hundreds still missing

An NHK reporter stationed at central Japan’s Ishikawa region described feeling the vertical “thrust” when it happened, adding traffic lights near him remained standing.

Sitting on top of four major tectonic plates along the western edge of the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, Japan is one of the world’s most tectonically active countries.

The archipelago, home to around 125 million people, experiences around 1,500 jolts every year and accounts for around 18 percent of the world’s earthquakes.

The vast majority are mild, although the damage they cause varies according to their location and the depth below the Earth’s surface at which they strike.

On New Year’s Day this year, over 400 people died after a massive earthquake hit the peninsula, including “quake-linked” deaths as well as those killed directly in the disaster.

The January 1 quake and its aftershocks toppled buildings, caused fires and knocked out infrastructure at a time when families were celebrating the new year.