Japan: Magnitude 7.8 earthquake strikes off Japan's Bonin Islands, USGS says. (No tsunami warning has been issued).

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake has struck almost 194 kilometres off Japan's coast, according to United States Geological Survey (USGS).

The quake, which hit off Japan's Bonin Islands, reportedly rocked buildings in Tokyo.

A powerful undersea earthquake south of Japan has shaken buildings in Tokyo.

Buildings in the capital swayed for almost a minute as the quake built in intensity, AFP news agency reported.

• No tsunami warning has been issued.

• The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, which said the earthquake had a magnitude of 8.5, was at a depth of 696 kilometres.

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• M 7.7 - BONIN ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION - 2015-05-30 11:23:03....local time: 20:23....

• M7.8 - 189km WNW of Chichi-shima, Japan...

Nearby Cities

1. 189km (117mi) WNW of Chichi-shima, Japan
2. 771km (479mi) SSE of Shimoda, Japan
3. 781km (485mi) SSE of Oyama, Japan
4. 783km (487mi) SE of Shingu, Japan
5. 874km (543mi) S of Tokyo, Japan

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• Pacific Tsunami Warning Center/

  -TSUNAMI INFORMATION STATEMENT NUMBER   1 

 NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI
134 AM HST SAT MAY 30 2015

TO - EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IN THE STATE OF HAWAII

SUBJECT - TSUNAMI INFORMATION STATEMENT

THIS STATEMENT IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY. NO ACTION REQUIRED.

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

   ORIGIN TIME - 0123 AM HST 30 MAY 2015
   COORDINATES - 27.9 NORTH  140.8 EAST
   LOCATION    - BONIN ISLANDS  JAPAN REGION
   MAGNITUDE   - 8.5  MOMENT

EVALUATION

 BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA A DESTRUCTIVE PACIFIC-WIDE TSUNAMI IS
 NOT EXPECTED AND THERE IS NO TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII. REPEAT. A
 DESTRUCTIVE PACIFIC-WIDE TSUNAMI IS NOT EXPECTED AND THERE IS NO
 TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII.

THIS WILL BE THE ONLY STATEMENT ISSUED FOR THIS EVENT UNLESS
ADDITIONAL DATA ARE RECEIVED.

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• Reuters reports that services on the Shinkansen high speed train line between Tokyo and Osaka were briefly halted by a power cuts.

Some trains in Tokyo also stopped for safety checks, causing crowds of commuters to form around some of the city's busier stations.
Michiko Orita, a resident of the island of Hahajima, near the epicentre, told NHK: "It shook violently. Our Buddhist altar swayed sideways wildly.
"I have not experienced anything like that, so it was so frightening."
Naoki Hirata, of the University of Tokyo's earthquake research centre, said: "This was a very big quake... the shaking was felt over a broad area... fortunately, because it was deep, there is little danger of a tsunami."
Japan is one of the world's most seismically active nations.
In March 2011, a massive 9.0 magnitude quake started a tsunami that left nearly 20,000 people dead in north-eastern Japan and caused nuclear meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant.....BBC
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• A magnitude-8.5 earthquake struck off the Ogasawara Islands south of Tokyo on Saturday evening, jolting wide parts of the Kanto region and causing moderate tremors in many parts of the archipelago, the Meteorological Agency said.

No tsunami warning was issued by the agency, and no serious injuries or major damage were immediately reported in the Ogasawara chain by local authorities.

In Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, a woman in her 70s sustained a minor injury when dishes fell on top of her head at home. In Minato Ward, Tokyo, a building elevator stopped suddenly, trapping people inside.
The quake, which measured upper-5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7, occurred at 8:24 p.m. at a depth of 590 km below the seabed west of the Ogasawara chain, the agency said. Given the depth of the epicenter, slow lateral vibrations continued for about a minute.

The Otemachi district in central Tokyo registered an intensity of 4 on the Japanese scale, and many areas in neighboring Kanagawa Prefecture were rocked more violently, according to data released by the agency. The town of Ninomiya, facing Sagami Bay, registered upper-5.
On Chichijima Island in the Ogasawara chain, communities experienced powerful jolts. NHK quoted Yoshiyuki Sasamoto, who runs a local inn, as saying things started to fall from shelves as the tremors continued.

Following the quake, the government quickly set up an emergency task force at the prime minister’s office to assess the situation.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said no damage had been reported at its Fukushima No. 1 and No. 2 nuclear power stations.

But a power outage briefly affected a combined 600 households in Adachi Ward, Tokyo, and the city of Fujimino, Saitama Prefecture, Tepco reported.
Central Japan Railway Co. and East Japan Railway Co. suspended operations on the Tokaido Shinkansen Line.

In Tokyo, the Yamanote Line and other rail routes were halted for safety checks. NHK footage showed many people stranded at major hub stations, including Shibuya, Shinjuku and Ikebukuro.
“The number of quakes seems to be rising these days, and I’m worried,” said a 34-year-old office worker stuck at Tokyo Station.

A college student who gave up waiting in a long line at a bus stop outside Shibuya Station said he had no choice but to spend the night at a friend’s apartment.
The Tokaido shinkansen and some other lines later resumed operation after safety was confirmed.
Haneda airport in Tokyo temporarily closed its runways for safety checks but resumed services within an hour.
japantimes.co.jp
30/5/15