The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) declared a tsunami alert on Tuesday for the Izu and Ogasawara islands (south of Tokyo) after a 5.9 magnitude earthquake occurred in the area.
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The JMA believes there is a risk of a one-metre-high tsunami imminently reaching the coasts of the Izu Islands, located more than 100 kilometres south of Tokyo, and the Ogasawara Islands, at a more remote distance of approximately 1,000 km from the capital region.
Both Izu and Ogasawara are sparsely populated and are administratively part of Tokyo Prefecture.
The quake struck at 8:14 a.m. local time on Tuesday (23:14 GMT on Monday) at a depth of 10 km below the seabed in waters off the coast of Torishima Island, south of the Izu archipelago, according to the JMA.
Japanese authorities are warning that a tsunami could hit the islands at around 9:00 a.m. local time (00:00 GMT Tuesday) and are advising people to stay away from areas near the sea and rivers.
Japan sits on the so-called Ring of Fire, one of the most active seismic zones in the world, and suffers earthquakes relatively frequently, so its infrastructure is specially designed to withstand tremors, in addition to having an advanced anti-tsunami warning system.
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