A moderate earthquake rattled eastern Japan, including the Tokyo area, injuring more than 30 people, most of them lightly, officials said. There was no danger of a tsunami.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 5.9 and its epicentre was in the southern Ibaraki prefecture with a depth of 70km. The US Geological Survey recorded a magnitude of 5.8.
At least 37 people were injured in five prefectures in the region – 15 in Tokyo, nine in Saitama, eight in Kanagawa, four in Chiba and one in Ibaraki – according to prefectural officials and the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
Most of the injured were hurt when they fell down or hit themselves against furniture or doors as they were caught off guard by yesterday’s quake while sleeping and got out of bed in a panic, officials said.
Among them was a woman in her 80s who fell off the bed and suffered a serious hip injury in Yokohama, in the Kanagawa prefecture, the Yomiuri newspaper reported.
A 23-year-old man told the Asahi newspaper he felt a vertical jolt seconds after an earthquake alert sounded while shopping in Tokyo’s Taito district, fearing falling merchandise as the building shook.
The government set up a task force to assess the extent of possible damage, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on X.
The Japan Meteorological Agency urged the residents in the area to use caution against another possible moderate earthquake for about a week. — AP
