Magnitude-7.0 Earthquake Hits Japan Day After Deadly 6.2 Temblor

A 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit Japan’s Kumamoto region on Friday, the day after a 6.2 quake struck, killing at least nine people, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Friday’s quake struck at a depth of about 6 miles around 9:25 a.m. PST, around 1:30 a.m. Saturday local time.

Tsunami advisories have been issued for parts of the Asian island nation, the Japan Meteorological Agency told CNN.

A tsunami was not expected for California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska or British Columbia, the National Weather Service tweeted.

The temblor occurred about 7 miles from Thursday’s 6.2-magnitude earthquake, which struck southwestern Japan’s Kyushu island, killing nine people.

Thursday’s quake was a foreshock, according to Dr. Lucy Jones, formerly of USGS.

Only 5 to 10 percent of earthquakes are foreshocks worldwide, and about 30 to 50 percent are preceded by foreshocks, she tweeted.

A 7.0-magnitude earthquake is considered more than 6 times bigger than a 6.2 on a seismogram, but feels nearly 16 times stronger, according to USGS.

An estimated 750,000 people felt Thursday’s “violent to severe shaking,” CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said.

In addition to the nine deaths, nearly 800 people were injured, 50 severely, CNN reported.

The impact of Friday’s quake was not immediately known.