Fri Aug 19, 2011 9:34AM GMT
A car drives past a pile of wrecked vehicles, destroyed by the March 11th earthquake and tsunami, at a devastated area in Rikuzentakata, north of Japan, August 14, 2011.
Japan has issued a tsunami alert after a strong magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck off the Asian country's northeast coast, the Japanese Meteorological Agency says.
The 2:36 p.m. (0536 GMT) quake was centered about 185 miles (300 kilometers) northeast of the capital Tokyo and at a depth of 12 miles (20 kilometers), slightly south of where the magnitude-9.0 temblor struck March 11, the agency said.
There have been no immediate reports of damage or injuries in the temblor, which rattled the northeast coast.
The agency also issued a tsunami advisory, predicting waves of 20 inches (50 centimeters) along the coast of Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, where a nuclear plant crippled by March's quake-spawned tsunami is located. The agency lifted the advisory about 30 minutes later.
More than five months after a massive magnitude 9.0 earthquake and a deadly tsunami ravaged Japan's northeast coast, the nation has yet to come up with a detailed action plan and the money needed to rebuild the devastated areas.
The March 11 disaster left nearly 23,000 people dead or still listed as missing.
GHN/MB
Posted in: NEWS
