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Magnitude 5.9 quake strikes off Japan's Ibaraki coast, shaking Tokyo
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck off Japan's Ibaraki coast on Monday, shaking Tokyo and nearby prefectures, with no casualties or damage reported and no tsunami warning issued.
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A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck off Japan's eastern coast on Monday, shaking buildings in Tokyo and across several prefectures a day after a separate quake injured dozens in central Japan.
The tremor hit off Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of the capital, at a depth of about 10 kilometres, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency, cited by local media. Its epicentre was recorded at 36.2 degrees north and 142.2 degrees east. It registered intensity 3 on Japan's seven-point scale in parts of Miyagi, Ibaraki, Fukushima and Tochigi prefectures, and shaking was felt in Tokyo.
Authorities reported no immediate casualties or property damage, and no tsunami warning was issued. The quake came a day after a magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck Shizuoka Prefecture early on Sunday, injuring at least 20 people, shattering shop windows and disrupting train services.
The magnitude, depth and location come from the Japan Meteorological Agency via local media and the Anadolu news agency, and the "no casualties, no damage" assessment is the authorities' own, reported the same morning. Two points need care: early magnitude estimates for offshore quakes are often revised, and a seismological service separately listed the same event at magnitude 5.7. The injury toll from Sunday's Shizuoka quake has also been reported at 20, 22, 24 and 26 by different outlets as local counts were updated. Nothing in Monday's reports suggests damage to infrastructure, and no transport disruption was reported.
Japan sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where several tectonic plates meet, and quakes of this size are a regular feature of life on the eastern seaboard. The back-to-back tremors, Sunday's in Shizuoka and Monday's off Ibaraki, will keep the country's early-warning and rail-stop systems in the spotlight, but the practical outcome on Monday was reassuring: no warning was needed, and the capital felt the shake without harm. The meteorological agency continues to monitor the region, as it does after every offshore event of this size.