7.1-Magnitude Earthquake Hit Off The Coast Of Japan A 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit off the coast of Japan earlier today about 200 miles east of the town of Namie and 6 miles down in the Pacific Ocean the U.S. Geological Survey reports.Initial reports from the USGS put the quake's magnitude at 7.3 and the Japan Meteorological Agency put out a tsunami advisory for several coastal regions asking people to leave the coast immediately. However by 4:05 a.m. local time (3:05 p.m. Eastern time in the U.S.) the agency cancelled the tsunami warning as the first waves driven by the quake didn't go over the 3-foot mark.In March 2011 the M9.0 earthquake that struck about 59 miles north of this event �displaced huge amounts of ocean water as the Pacific tectonic plate slipped under the Okhotsk �plate �triggering �a massive tsunami that killed thousands and knocked out the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Since then multiple earthquakes have struck this region including a M7.3 quake in December of last year though none have resulted in such devastating waves.[USA Today]