Two strong earthquakes have struck Asia this morning (local time). The first quake struck at 19:56 UTC on August 10 about 163 miles north of Port Blair, Adaman Islands, India. The U.S. Geological Survey says it was a 7.6 on the Richter Scale, and has issued a tsunami watch for India, Myanmar, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Thailand.
The second earthquake struck at 20:07 UTC (5:07 a.m. local time) in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan (southwest of Tokyo). U.S.G.S. rates that one at a 6.4, while the Japanese Meteorological Agency calls it a "6 minus" on their 7 point scale, which is geared toward public safety understanding and response. Japanese media is reporting a wave up to 60 cm struck the coast about 6 minutes after the quake.
Reuters reports there is one injury: a TV fell on a child's leg.
Tokyo felt the earthquake at about equal strength to Sunday evening's quake, but there was no damage or injury in Tokyo on Sunday. This latest Japanese quake was centered farther north, right along the Japanese coast, at 34.8N 138.5E at a depth of 20 Km.
As per usual, Japan halted trains for safety checks.
The Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant is located in the vicinity of the earthquake; the plant automatically shut down. (In 2007, an earthquake near Niigata shook the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Plant beyond its design limit, a first in the industry. After numerous safety checks Tokyo Electric Power Company restarted one of the units this past May. There were also new earthquake safety protocols adopted by the entire industry.)
People Magazine says that Jessica Simpson is in Japan Twittering about her personal experience with the earthquake. I know so many people were worried about Jessica. :-)