Magnitude 7.1 Quake Jolts Japan; Tsunami Alert Issued

Tags: Japan + earthquake + Tsunami

A magnitude 7.1 earthquake was measured at the city of Toyama, Japan, Sunday, according to the National Geological Survey, and a television network said no serious damage was reported.

A tsunami advisory was issued for coastal areas of Ishikawa. The Japan Meteorological Agency said waves of as much as 0.5 meter could be generated by the quake.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ordered government agencies to confirm damage or injuries resulting from the quake, Kyodo News Agency said.

Tokyo Electric Power co. and Kansai Electric Power Co., which operate nuclear power plants in areas near the center of the quake, said facilities were operating normally, according to the Kyodo report.

All Nippon Airways suspended flights between Tokyo's Haneda airport and Noto airport in Ishikawa, Kyodo said.

West Japan Railway suspended service in the area for inspection, the company said on its web site. East Japan Railway's high-speed Joetsu Shinkansen between Tokyo and Niigata was also suspended for inspection, said Shinichi Harada, company spokesman.

The quake was felt 360 kilometers (225 miles) away in Tokyo. It was centered about 20 miles beneath the seabed offshore of Ishikawa Prefecture, a peninsula which faces the sea, the agency said on its web site. The tremor registered in the upper six range on Japan's intensity scale.

Japan, one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, is located in a zone where the Eurasian, Pacific, Philippine and North American tectonic plates meet and occasionally shift, causing quakes. Quakes of magnitude 5 and more can cause considerable damage.

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