Tokyo: A major 7.4-magnitude quake struck southern Japan Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said, with experts warning of the possibility of a local tsunami.
The quake hit at 3:19 am local time (2249 IST) 153 km east of Chichi-shima in Japan's remote Bonin island region, at a shallow depth of just 14 km.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injury. The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said there was no threat of a destructive widespread tsunami.
But it warned in a bulletin: "Earthquakes of this size sometimes generate local tsunamis that can be destructive along coasts located within 100 km of the earthquake
epicentre."
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, December 22, 2010, 09:37