Bonin Islands:
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake recently struck the Bonin Islands region of Japan.
- The Bonin Islands, also known as the Ogasawara Islands, are volcanic islands and islets in the central Pacific Ocean in the southeast of Japan.
- The islands command a strategic position astride the Pacific approaches to East Asia.
- The largest and principal island is Chichi (formerly Peel Island), the site of Omura, the capital of the group, and Futami-ko (Port Lloyd), the chief harbor.
- Bonin flying fox: A threatened fruit bat and the only endemic mammal of the Ogasawara Islands.
- They have been dubbed the “Galapagos of the Orient” due to the presence of many flora and fauna species that have evolved there independently.
- The Ogasawara Islands were added to UNESCO’s list of World Natural Heritage sites in July 2011.
