Phivolcs: No tsunami threat from Japan quake

State seismologists on Monday allayed fears of a tsunami reaching the Philippines following a magnitude-7.1 quake that hit Japan Monday afternoon. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said the tsunami alert in the Philippines is at level "0," meaning no evacuation is needed. "PHIVOLCS Tsunami ALERT Level is 0. This is for information purposes only and there is no tsunami threat to the Philippines from this earthquake," it said in a bulletin. It said the quake occurred at 4:16 p.m. (Manila time), along the east coast of Honshu in Japan. The quake came a month after a magnitude-9 quake and a tsunami devastated Japan's northeast area. "No destructive Pacific-wide threat exists based on the historical and tsunami data. However, earthquakes of this size sometimes generate local tsunamis that can be destructive along coasts located within a hundred kilometers of the epicenter," the Phivolcs bulletin said. - KBK, GMA News