March 14, 2012 – JAPAN - A 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit the northeast Japan coast today prompting a regional tsunami warning to be issued, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. The earthquake hit 146 miles (235km) from Kushiro on the northeastern island of Hokkaido at a relatively shallow depth of 16 miles (26km). The tsunami was predicted to be around about 20 inches (50cm). No Pacific-wide tsunami threat was issued. It comes just over a year after 9.0-magnitude tremor struck the country's northeastern coast, leading to a massive tsunami which killed at least 19,000 people. –Herald Sun
