No tsunami threat for US after powerful magnitude 6.8 earthquake strikes off coast of Japan

TOKYO – A powerful magnitude 6.8 earthquake shook parts of southern Japan on Monday.According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake was reported about 7 miles to the east-southeast of Miyazaki just after 9 p.m. local time (7 a.m. ET) at a depth of about 30 miles.Miyazaki, located on the island of Kyushu, sits about 560 miles to the southwest of Tokyo.According to the National Weather Service’s National Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska, there is no threat of a tsunami for the U.S. West Coast, Alaska or Hawaii.Buildings and houses were seen shaking on video from local surveillance cameras in Miyazaki City.The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued a Tsunami Warning for waves of 3 feet in height for parts of the southeastern shores of Kyushu and Shikoku. All Tsunami Warnings were lifted shortly before midnight local time.HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHERCiting Japanese state media, Reuters reported that the quake did not seem to impact either the Ikata Nuclear Power Plant in western Japan or the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant in Kagoshima prefecture.The JMA said in a statement that it believes there is a 10-20% chance of a similar magnitude quake occurring in the next two to three days.