A series of earthquakes rattled Japan Wednesday, only a few days after the one-year anniversary of the devastating magnitude-9.0 earthquake that hit the country in 2011.
No damage or injuries were reported, according to the Associated Press, and the earthquakes are considered aftershocks from the 2011 earthquake.
The strongest quake Wednesday measured a magnitude of 6.8 and struck off the coast of Hokkaido, the island hardest hit in 2011. The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami warning, but lifted it 90 minutes after the initial quake.
Japan experiences hundreds of earthquakes yearly, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The island is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of the Pacific Ocean where colliding tectonic plates cause 90 percent of the world's earthquakes.
"It is a bit like pushing a big piece of furniture across a carpet, so eventually you build up the pressure and suddenly it will move," Steff Gaulter, a meteorologist for Al Jazeera, said of colliding tectonic plates in a 2011 article published by the paper. "So that is what we have seen - the sudden movement."
Japan has experienced several large earthquakes in the past, many with magnitudes of 7 or greater. Here are some photos of the some of the strongest quakes in the country's history.
SOURCE:IBTimes
