Earthquake of magnitude 7.3 strikes off Japan east coast

TOKYO - Agence France-Presse

A 7.3 magnitude quake struck off Japan's east coast Oct. 25 but no destructive widespread tsunami was expected, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

The quake struck at a depth of 10 kilometres at 3:10 a.m. local time, 320 kilometres southeast of Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The USGS intially said its magnitude was 7.5, and issued a green alert on its website, signalling a low probability of deaths or economic losses.

Eastern Japan, a seismically active region, was struck by a 6.5 magnitude earthquake last month causing tremors to be felt 600 kilometres away in Tokyo.

More than 18,000 people died when a 9.0 magnitude sub-sea earthquake sent a towering tsunami barrelling into Japan's northeast coast in March 2011 in the country's worst post-World War II disaster.

Cooling systems at the Fukushima nuclear plant were knocked out, sending reactors into meltdown and forcing tens of thousands of people to flee.