Moderate quakes rattle Japan; no injuries or damage reported

TOKYO – A pair of moderate earthquakes rattled northern and southern Japan on Monday, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, and there was no danger of a tsunami.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the first quake had a magnitude of 5.5 and occurred just off the southern coast of Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost main island, at 2:13 p.m. It said that the quake had a depth of 20 kilometres (12 miles), and that there was no danger of a tsunami.

A few minutes later, a magnitude-5.7 quake struck just off the coast of the southern island of Okinawa, at a depth of 40 kilometres (25 miles). There was no threat of a tsunami from that one either.

Japan, which sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries.