Strong Quake Strikes Japan

On Friday December 7, 2012 a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck in the Pacific Ocean. This earthquake struck the same region of Japan devastated by last year's massive quake and tsunami, generating small waves but no immediate reports of heavy damage. Several people along the northeastern coast were reportedly injured and buildings in Tokyo and elsewhere swayed for several minutes. The epicenter was 6.2 miles beneath the seabed and 150 miles offshore.
To prevent this natural hazard from turning into a disaster authorities issued early warnings that a tsunami potentially as high as 2 meters could hit. To do this the Meteorological Agency has an early warning system that, using data from seismographs scattered across Japan, enables it to provide advance warning of the estimated intensity and timing of a major quake.
Extra safety precautions were taken as two of Japan's 50 nuclear plants are currently operating; the rest have been shut down for maintenance and safety checks.
Damage and death from these tsunamis could be prevented if communities didn’t build on coastal areas that are prone to earthquake and tsunami events.

Article Source: http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/251994/group/News/