Japan’s remote Izu islands, located south of Tokyo, were struck by a small tsunami on Tuesday after a magnitude-5.9 earthquake hit near an unpopulated island in the Pacific Ocean. Fortunately, no immediate reports of damage have surfaced.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), a tsunami measuring 50 cm (1.6 ft) reached Hachijo Island, one of the Izu islands, approximately 40 minutes after the earthquake. While initial concerns suggested that the tsunami could reach up to 1 meter (3.3 ft) high, it remained at the lower level.
Public broadcaster NHK confirmed that there have been no signs of damage from either the tsunami or the earthquake. The JMA had earlier warned residents of the Izu and Ogasawara islands to remain vigilant, but no major tremors followed the undersea earthquake, which occurred near the uninhabited Torishima Island, around 600 km (370 miles) south of Tokyo.
The Izu islands, along with the more distant Ogasawara islands, consist of around a dozen inhabited islands with a combined population of approximately 24,000, according to data from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
