GLOBAL VOLCANISM: Magnitude 5.6 Earthquake Recorded Near Kiska Volcano, Alaska - Provisional Tsunami Alert Issued!

April 11, 2016 - ALASKA - An earthquake with preliminary magnitude of 5.6 has been recorded near Kiska Volcano, Alaska on 11 April 2016 20:10:35.

The earthquake epicenter was located at precisely 109km SW of Kiska Volcano, Alaska and at a depth of approximately 28 km.

A provisional tsunami alert have been issued for the region following this earthquake.

Other details about the earthquake were not immediately available, and there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. We will update this report as soon as we have more information.

Below is a map showing the location of the earthquake and additional information pertaining to the exact location of the epicenter.

Magnitude: 5.6
Location: 109km SW of Kiska Volcano, Alaska
Time in GMT: 11 April 2016 20:10:35
Latitude of Epicenter: 51.4
Longitude of Epicenter: 176.5
Depth: 28 km


- Island Crisis News.

DISASTER IMPACT: At Least 10 People Injured As 6.9 Magnitude Earthquake Hit Northern Japan - The Authorities Are Assessing Damage To Nuclear Power Plants!

February 02, 2013 - JAPAN - A POWERFUL 6.9 magnitude earthquake has struck northern Japan, causing strong tremors across Hokkaido island, but no damage to several nuclear facilities in the region, officials say. The quake, which was preceded by an early warning broadcast on television and radio, hit near the town of Obihiro at a depth of 103 kilometres at 11.17pm on Saturday (0117 AEDT Sunday), according to US Geological Survey data.  Ten people suffered minor injuries due to falling objects, broken glass and other incidents, according to national broadcaster NHK, but authorities said no serious damage was reported and the quake did not generate a tsunami.

The shaking lasted about a minute, and video taken in the offices of NHK Hokkaido showed computer screens swaying and shelves threatening to give way.  Bottles smashed to the ground in supermarkets, some areas had power blackouts and a number of highways were closed. Trains were stopped on rural tracks as a precaution.  "Beware of possible landslides and buildings that could have been weakened," an official from Japan's Meteorological Agency warned at a press conference.  The most violent tremors were felt in the eastern part of Hokkaido - the nation's second largest island and a popular skiing destination - but the northern part of the island was also shaken along with parts of the main island of Honshu, where Tokyo is located.  Utility firms said no abnormalities were reported at the Tomari nuclear plant in Hokkaido's west, nor in the nuclear facilities in Aomori, the northernmost prefecture on Honshu.  Aomori is home to the Higashidori nuclear reactors and a nuclear reprocessing plant in Rokkasho which is currently in a testing phase, as well as fuel storage sites. 

At present only two of the country's 50 reactors are operational, after the entire network was shuttered over several months for scheduled safety checks following the quake-tsunami disaster of March 2011.  Both are in Oi, in Honshu's west.  Shortly before Saturday's quake hit, an alert was broadcast on television and radio through an early warning system established by the weather agency, and programs were interrupted on NHK.  "Make yourself safe, turn off the gas, beware of falling objects, and if you are outside do not approach the coast," a broadcaster said.  The devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan's northeast left some 19,000 people dead or missing and crippled the Fukushima nuclear power plant in the world's worst atomic disaster in 25 years.  A powerful 7.3-magnitude undersea quake in the same area in December triggered a one-metre-high tsunami, but there were no reports of fatalities.  Since the Fukushima disaster the country has been fearing another quake catastrophe.  Some of Japan's reactors, including the Higashidori facility, are built near faults suspected to be active.  Since the March disaster, anti-nuclear sentiment has run high in Japan, which used to rely on atomic power for around a third of its electricity needs.  Some four hours after the quake a 5.5-magnitude tremor struck off Japan's Izu islands, around 725 kilometres south of Tokyo, according to the US Geological Survey. - Herald Sun.

PLANETARY TREMORS: Seismic Uptick On The Pacific Ring Of Fire - Powerful 6.9 Magnitude Earthquake Jolts Hokkaido, Japan!

February 02, 2013 - JAPAN -  An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 jolted Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido on Saturday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

USGS earthquake map and location.

No tsunami was seen as a result of the quake and there were no reports of damage to local police as of 11:30 p.m. (1430 GMT) local time, about 10 minutes after the quake occurred, public broadcaster NHK said.

There were no abnormalities at Tohoku Electric Power Co’s Higashidori nuclear plant in northern Japan, NHK said, citing the utility.

USGS earthquake map and location.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake was measured at a depth of 103.1 km (64.1 miles), with a location of  42.812°N, 143.078°E and its epicentre was 15 km (9 miles) southwest of Obihiro, Japan and 22 km (13 miles) southwest of Otofuke, Japan.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not issue any alerts, saying the quake did not generate any tsunamis. An Associated Press report stated that there were no reports of damages or injuries so far.

USGS earthquake intensity map.

Northeastern Japan was devastated by a massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11 that left nearly 20,000 people dead or missing. Japan, which lies along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," is one of the world's most seismically active countries. It also cut power to the Fukushima nuclear power plant; the resulting meltdown was one of the most severe in history.

WATCH: Western Pacific Weather Watch - Large Earthquake Hits Northern Japan.

DISASTER IMPACT: Powerful Earthquake Injuries 13 in Japan, 1 Still Missing!

December 07, 2012 - JAPAN - About 13 people were injured and one still missing after a magnitude 7.3 earthquake jolted off eastern coast of Japan Friday.

Two seniors were found injured in Aomori and Miyagi Prefectures respectively Saturday morning, local police said. The rest 11 injured were reported Friday after the quake, which also triggered tsunami up to one meter high along parts of Japan's Pacific coast.

Photo taken on Dec. 7, 2012 shows the scene of Japan's Tokyo after an earthquake. A 7.3-magnitude earthquake jolted off the east coast of Honshu of Japan, resulting in a tsunami warning for the country's northeastern coastal areas, according to Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). (Xinhua/Ma Ping).

Iwate authorities said they are still searching for a senior, who went missing after evacuating in a boat from Kuji port in the prefecture in response to tsunami alerts.

Japan's nuclear regulator said no abnormalities were detected at nuclear plants in the affected region, including Fukushima Daiichi and Fukushima Daini plants.

Over 20,000 people evacuated and railway services and an airport were suspended temporarily after the temblor.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake was probably an aftershock of the catastrophic temblor hit the region in March 2011.

The agency also warned that there would be an aftershock up to magnitude 6 within a week. - Xinhua.

PLANETARY TREMORS: Powerful Magnitude 7.3 Mega- Earthquake Strikes Coast of Honshu, Japan - Tsunami Warning Issued! UPDATE: Strong 6.2 Aftershock Strikes Japan's East Coast!

December 07, 2012 - JAPAN - A tsunami alert was issued for Japan's northeast coast Friday after a powerful 7.3-magnitude undersea earthquake struck, setting buildings in Tokyo swaying violently. Media reports said a one-metre-high wave could sweep ashore in Miyagi prefecture, an area badly hit by the March 2011 tsunami that devastated a large swathe of coast in the northeast, killing thousands.

Broadcaster NHK, quoting the national meteorological agency, said the tsunami is expected to hit at 5:40 pm (0840 GMT). The United States Geological Survey measured the quake's magnitude at 7.3. NHK said the Japan Meteorological Agency had issued a tsunami warning, one notch lower than a tsunami alert, for the Pacific coast of Iwate, Fukushima, Aomori and Ibaraki prefectures. A 50-centimetre tunami was expected to hit the coast of Iwate at 5:40 pm, Fukushima at 5:50 pm, and Aomori and Ibaraki at 6:00 pm. Nuclear plant operator Tokyo Electric Power told AFP there were no reports of further damage at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. The powerful 7.3 earthquake did not generate a Pacific-wide tsunami, a US early warning agency said. There was no threat of a tsunami in the wider Pacific Ocean, according to the US-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, but it warned an earthquake of that magnitude could generate a tsunami that can be destructive for local coastlines. - Channel News Asia.

WATCH: 7.3 magnitude earthquake strikes Japan.

UPDATE: Strong 6.2 Magnitude Aftershock Strikes Japan's East Coast!

A strong 6.2 magnitude aftershock has just struck southeast of Ofunato, several minutes after the 7.3 mega-earthquake. The 6.2 tremor hit at 08:31:14 UTC local time and was located at 37.939°N 143.763°E, with a depth of 29.2km (18.1miles). The quake had an epicentre of 218km (135miles) SE of Ofunato, Japan; 220km (137miles) SE of Kamaishi, Japan; 222km (138miles) ESE of Ishinomaki, Japan; 226km (140miles) SE of Otsuchi, Japan; and 440km (273miles) NE of Tokyo, Japan.

The latest update out of Japan is that the Miyagi prefecture was hit by a tsunami of 1 meter in height; Japan's national broadcaster NHK reports. A small 20 centimeter tsunami was observed at Ofunato City in Iwate Prefecture at 18:10 local time, according to Japan Times. No elevated levels of radiation was seen at the Fukushima reactors, that was badly damaged in the 2011 Japan earthquakes.

Seismotectonics of Japan and Vicinity.
Japan and the surrounding islands straddle four major tectonic plates: Pacific plate; North America plate; Eurasia plate; and Philippine Sea plate. The Pacific plate is subducted into the mantle, beneath Hokkaido and northern Honshu, along the eastern margin of the Okhotsk microplate, a proposed subdivision of the North America plate. Farther south, the Pacific plate is subducted beneath volcanic islands along the eastern margin of the Philippine Sea plate. This 2,200 km-long zone of subduction of the Pacific plate is responsible for the creation of the deep offshore Ogasawara and Japan trenches as well as parallel chains of islands and volcanoes, typical of Circumpacific island arcs. Similarly, the Philippine Sea plate is itself subducting under the Eurasia plate along a zone, extending from Taiwan to southern Honshu that comprises the Ryukyu Islands and the Nansei-Shoto trench.

Subduction zones at the Japanese island arcs are geologically complex and produce numerous earthquakes from multiple sources. Deformation of the overriding plates generates shallow crustal earthquakes, whereas slip at the interface of the plates generates interplate earthquakes that extend from near the base of the trench to depths of 40 to 60 km. At greater depths, Japanese arc earthquakes occur within the subducting Pacific and Philippine Sea plates and can reach depths of nearly 700 km. Since 1900, three great earthquakes occurred off Japan and three north of Hokkaido. They are the M8.4 1933 Sanriku-oki earthquake, the M8.3 2003 Tokachi-oki earthquake, the M9.0 2011 Tohoku earthquake, the M8.4 1958 Etorofu earthquake, the M8.5 1963 Kuril earthquake, and the M8.3 1994 Shikotan earthquake. - USGS.