FOG BLOG WORLD NEWS LOG: STRONG 6.6 EARTHQUAKE HITS WESTERN JAPAN!

Strong magnitude 6.6 earthquake jolts western Japan.....An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 rattled southwestern and western Japan early Saturday, leaving more than 10 injured amid strong shaking but no tsunami waves were triggered, the weather agency and local authorities said.

The focus of the quake under the Pacific Ocean was within a zone off Japan's coast where it is predicted that a massive earthquake and ensuing tsunami could occur in the future. Saturday's quake had a magnitude lower than 6.8, the standard for the government to hold an extraordinary expert meeting to evaluate an earthquake.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said it will discuss whether the latest quake was connected in any way with the one predicted at a regular monthly meeting........The quake occurred at around 1:08 a.m. with the focus at a depth of 45 kilometers, logging upper 5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in Miyazaki and Oita prefectures on the country's southwestern main island of Kyushu, the agency said.

At an intensity of upper 5, many people find it hard to move and walking is difficult without holding on to something stable.

The agency revised the magnitude of the quake upward to 6.6 from an initial estimate of 6.4. It also warned that another quake with a similar level of shaking could occur in hard-hit areas within the next week.

After the strong quake, several smaller-scale temblors occurred sporadically in the area.