For starters, Japan is located along the so-called

Pacific Ring of Fire, which is the most active

earthquake belt in the world. This "ring" is actually an
imaginary horseshoe-shaped zone that follows the
rim of the Pacific Ocean, where many of the world's
earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur.
Within the Ring of Fire, several tectonic plates —
including the Pacific Plate beneath the Pacific
Ocean and the Philippine Sea Plate — mash and
collide.
"The Earth's surface is broken up into about a dozen
or so major chunks that are all moving around.
Where they all interact at their edges, interesting
things happen," said Douglas Given, a geophysicist
with the USGS in Pasadena, California.
Today's earthquake seems to have been caused by
the Philippines Sea Plate diving underneath the
Eurasia Plate, according to Paul Caruso, a
geophysicist with the USGS.
While Japan is no stranger to earthquakes, the 7.0-
magnitude temblor is one of the largest ever
recorded in this part of southern Japan, Caruso told
Live Science.
"The second-largest was probably on March 20, 1939
— there was a magnitude-6.7 in this area. And we've
had magnitude-6.5 and magnitude-6.3 earthquakes,
but this is the largest quake that has been measured
in that vicinity," he said.
A tsunami advisory was issued after today's
earthquake, but it was subsequently lifted by the
Japan Meteorological Agency, and there are
currently no major tsunami warnings or advisories in
effect.
Not all earthquakes trigger tsunamis, Caruso said. In
general, there are three key ingredients that can
produce a dangerous earthquake-tsunami
combination, he added. First, the earthquake must
be at least a magnitude-7 temblor. Second, the
quake's epicenter has to be underneath the ocean,
Caruso said. And finally, the earthquake has to be
shallow.
"We have quakes around Fiji all the time, but those
are sometimes 400 miles [640 kilometers]
underground, so they aren't going to generate a
tsunami," he said.
Today's earthquake was shallow — about 6 miles (10
km) underground — but the epicenter was on land,
meaning there aren't likely to be any dangerous
tsunamis as a result, Caruso said.
Given said he hasn't seen many damage reports yet,
but Japanese authorities and scientists at the USGS
will be monitoring the area for potentially dangerous
aftershocks, which are smaller quakes that follow the
largest event in a series and that generally decrease
in strength.
"This seems to be a pretty energetic sequence, and
there are lots of large aftershocks," Given told Live
Science. "And of course, after a large earthquake,
structures are often weakened as a result. Additional
damage can be expected."
Residents of the area should expect more shaking in
the coming days, according to Caruso.
"We can say for certain that there are going to be
more aftershocks in this area," he said. "Exactly when
and how big they're going to be is difficult to say,
though. No one can predict that."
Follow Denise Chow on Twitter @denisechow. Follow
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Original article on Live Science.