By Kate Barton

On Friday, November 13, an earthquake occurred off the coast of Japan. The quake measured a 7.0 on the Richter scale and created a relatively small tsunami. No damage or injuries have been reported.

However, this is not the first, or surely the last, time that an earthquake has taken place in this area. Japan is near the Philippine sea plate with a very active plate boundary since the plate is undergoing subduction. The most recent, catastrophic earthquake there was in 2011 when a level 9.0 earthquake killed around 18,000 is northern Japan with the ensuing tsunami.

Another quake has already occurred, early November 18, with a level of 5.1 near Kagoshima. This quake is not as dangerous as others, but it is a continuation of earthquakes in this area.