Japan Earthquake One Of 14 Significant Shakers To Strike Asia-Pacific Region Friday

Friday may not have been a forerunner of the Mayan Apocalypse, but it was nonetheless an earthshaking day around the Pacific Rim, as the U.S. Geological Survey reported 14 earthquakes of at least magnitude 5.0 hit the Asia-Pacific region.

The three biggest were the magnitude-7.3 quake 152.24 miles southeast of Kamaishi, Japan; the magnitude-6.3 temblor 13.05 miles east-southeast of Tokoroa, New Zealand; and the magnitude-6.2 trembler 135.46 miles southeast of Ofunato, Japan.

Both China and Papua New Guinea also were struck by significant earthquakes, according to the USGS.

The largest of the nine Japanese quakes of at least magnitude 5.0 Friday was the most powerful to hit the country since March of last year, Bloomberg News reported.

Unlike the Great East Japan Earthquake that caused an extremely deadly tsunami 128 feet high and multiple nuclear-reactor meltdowns in 2011, this temblor resulted in surprisingly little damage. The trembler led buildings to sway in Tokyo for several minutes and temporarily disrupted airline and railroad traffic, Bloomberg News said. Meanwhile, the associated tsunami was only about three feet high.