A strong earthquake shook central Japan early on Sunday, injuring at least 22 people, shattering shop windows and disrupting train services across a wide area around Aichi Prefecture.
Japan’s Meteorological Agency put the quake at magnitude 5.7, while the United States Geological Survey reported it slightly lower, at 5.5. It struck at 1:04am local time, centred in western Shizuoka Prefecture at a depth of about 40 kilometres.
The shaking reached upper 5 on Japan’s seven-point seismic intensity scale in Chita, in neighbouring Aichi Prefecture — the first tremor of that strength recorded in western Shizuoka since record-keeping began in 1919, and the strongest in Aichi since March 1997. Lower 5 shaking was also recorded in parts of Aichi, Shizuoka, Gifu and Nagano prefectures, and the tremor was felt as far away as Kyoto, Nara and Yamanashi, where Mount Fuji stands.
At least 22 people were injured, according to local media cited by the Associated Press, although the toll varied in early reports and was still being updated. Fire officials in Aichi reported at least 16 people hurt, most of them with minor injuries. In neighbouring Shizuoka, at least three women sought emergency medical care, including a woman in her 90s who injured her shoulder after falling from her bed. Some local outlets, including the Chunichi Shimbun newspaper and Tokai Television, reported at least 24 people hurt. No deaths have been reported.
In Tokoname, a woman in her 50s was taken to hospital with a fractured ankle. In Toyota, a man in his 40s and a woman in his 80s fell and hit their heads and were taken to hospital, both conscious. Officials in Higashiura, also in Aichi, said water supplies had been cut in parts of the town and that water had gushed from manholes. The government set up an emergency liaison office to coordinate the response.
No tsunami warning was issued. No abnormalities were detected at the Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Shizuoka, according to its operator, Chubu Electric Power Co.
At a news conference after the quake, Japan Meteorological Agency official Ayataka Ebita said residents in areas that shook strongly should watch for further tremors, warning of a higher risk of falling rocks and landslides, and of rain in the coming days. The agency said people should remain alert for quakes of up to upper 5 intensity for about a week, with the risk particularly high over the next two to three days.
The agency also assessed the possibility that Sunday’s quake was linked to a possible Nankai Trough megaquake — the giant earthquake Japan has long feared off its Pacific coast — as “low”, saying no clear changes had been detected in the Nankai Trough plate.
Sources: Associated Press — https://www.europesays.com/japan/120357/ and Kyodo News — https://www.europesays.com/japan/120373/
Note: The featured image is a file photo of Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture, not of the earthquake itself.
