TOKYO, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Two strong offshore earthquakes Thursday rocked Japan and Indonesia within hours of each other, but there were no immediate casualty reports in either country.
The quakes, however, forced authorities in both countries to issue tsunami alerts.
One temblor, measuring 7.0 magnitude, struck Hokkaido island in northern Japan about 9.21 a.m. Thursday, while the other, which registered 7.6 magnitude, jolted the Indonesian archipelago's northeastern Moluccas Islands.
Kyodo news service quoted the Japan Meteorological Agency as saying smaller shocks were also felt in wide areas of Hokkaido and the Tohoku region.
The report said after the tsunami warning, there were minor tidal waves on the shores of Hokkaido and about 10,000 residents were advised to evacuate.
Hokkaido Electric Power Co. said a nuclear power plant in a village in southeastern Hokkaido was not affected.
Indonesia's Antara news agency reported the tsunami warning was canceled about 40 minutes after the quake struck about 7 a.m. in North Moluccas province and nearby eastern regions.
CNN reported the U.S. Geological Survey said the Japanese quake's epicenter was about 80 miles off south-southwest of Kushiro and about 21.7 miles before the Earth's surface.
The Indonesian temblor was offshore about 75 miles north of Ternate in the province of Moluccas and nearly 58 miles underground.
