Two earthquakes with magnitudes 7.1 and 6.9 hit the southern coast of Japan

Two strong earthquakes, one of magnitude 6.9 and the other of 7.1, struck Thursday off the coast of the island of Kyushu in southern Japan, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reported.

Waves of up to one meter are expected in some coastal areas of the islands of Kyushu and Shikoku, public broadcaster NHK reported.

The first quake occurred at a depth of 33 kilometers and the second had a depth of 25 kilometers, the USGS said.

The Japanese government said in a statement that it installed a working group to coordinate the response to the quakes.

Japan is located on four major tectonic plates, in the Pacific "Ring of Fire," and is one of the most seismically active countries in the world.

This archipelago, which has some 125 million inhabitants, records about 1,500 earthquakes each year, corresponding to 18% of the tremors recorded in the world.

The vast majority of earthquakes are mild, but damage varies depending on where the epicenter is recorded and the depth.

Strict anti-earthquake construction standards allow even powerful tremors to generate little damage.

On January 1 this year, more than 200 people were killed by a devastating earthquake that struck the Noto Peninsula, off the Sea of Japan.