Moderately strong quakes hitting Hokkaido since late May

Moderately powerful earthquakes have been hitting Japan’s northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido, but weather officials say they are unlikely to trigger larger quakes.

The Meteorological Agency says a magnitude-6.3 tremor occurred early Monday morning, with its epicenter located off the coast of the Tokachi region.

The quake registered an intensity of four on the Japanese seismic scale of zero to seven. The agency estimates that it occurred where the Pacific Plate meets a continental plate.

It was the latest in a series of earthquakes along the Pacific coast of Hokkaido since late May, which had each registered an intensity of up to four.

Agency officials say they have not been strong enough to trigger more powerful quakes, and each of them is believed to have been an isolated tremor.

However, the officials warn that a massive quake could occur anytime along the Chishima Trench off the coast of Hokkaido. In 2003, a magnitude-8.0 quake occurred off Tokachi.

Officials are urging the public to prepare for earthquakes.