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6.1 Magnitude Quake Strikes Japan; Fukushima Unharmed

By Gabrielle Devenish Nov 25, 2011 10:16 AM EST

Two earthquakes hit northern Japan Thursday, but neither caused any major damages.

According to The Associated Press, Japan's Meteorological Agency said a magnitude 6.1 undersea quake struck Thursday evening, 19 miles below the sea surface, about 465 miles northeast of Tokyo, near Hokkaido island. No warnings were issued.

The Japanese television network NHK said the second temblor left several thousand homes without power.

The quakes are unrelated, USA Today reported, and the Fukushima nuclear power plant, crippled earlier this year, was unaffected.

The earthquake in Japan on March 11 was magnitude 9.0 and sparked a tsunami. The disasters left nearly 20,000 people dead or missing and caused a nuclear crisis at the plant. Information about the status of the plant’s restoration are posted on the website, www.tepco.co.jp.

Japan lies on the "Ring of Fire" – an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones that stretches around the Pacific Rim; about 90 percent of the world's earthquakes occur in the area.

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