Japan earthquake: Huge 6.4 magnitude quake hits Japan overnight as volcano warning issued
JAPAN experienced a huge 6.4 magnitude earthquake overnight along with two smaller tremors following warnings of an active volcano just days earlier.
By GEORGINA LAUD
Express.co.uk
Fri, Aug 17, 2018
Miles into the North Pacific Ocean, a huge 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck along the Mariana Trench last night.
Despite not being close enough to land to be felt, the earthquake comes at a time when seismic activity is high in Japan.
A magnitude-6.0 earthquake also stuck in the same place a minute earlier, some 435 miles from Tokyo.
And on August 14, a magnitude-4.7 earthquake also hit Shizuoka Prefecture in Japan.
Japan is on alert for seismic activity, after a warning was issued for Kuchinoerabu – or Kuchinoerabujima – island on August 14.
The volcano warning was raised on the small island from level two to level four, despite an eruption not being detected.
Kuchinoerabu island is located 621 miles southwest of Tokyo and has a population of around 100 people.
The level four warning tells residents to be prepared to evacuate and was issued due to an increase in volcanic earthquakes and sulphur emissions at the peak.
Kuchinoerabu island’s volcano erupted explosively in 2015, sending cascades of ash and smoke thousands of metres into the sky.
Pyroclastic flows – superheated gas and ash – flowed down the sides of the mountain and into the sea.
The entirety of the population was evacuated, before eventually returning once activity had settled.
Japan has been plagued by natural disasters in recent months, with earthquakes, flooding, and a horrendous heat wave.
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