TOKYO: A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck southern Ibaraki Prefecture in eastern Japan at 10:06 a.m. on Wednesday morning, shaking the Kanto region and causing buildings in Tokyo to sway, while authorities said there was no tsunami warning. The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake was centered at a depth of 48 kilometers and listed the magnitude as a preliminary reading. The epicenter north of the capital meant the tremor was felt across a wide section of eastern Japan.
The strongest shaking was recorded in Moka in neighboring Tochigi Prefecture, where the quake registered lower-5 on Japan’s seven-point seismic intensity scale. JMA said intensities from 4 to 1 were observed across a broad arc stretching from the Tohoku region to Chubu, with notable shaking also logged in Ibaraki, Chiba, Saitama and the Tokyo area. The readings showed the event was widely felt across eastern and central Japan, including the greater Tokyo area.
JMA said its first detection time and the earthquake’s occurrence time were both 10:06 a.m., and it later issued a public summary of the event at 11:15 a.m. The agency said no additional earthquakes measuring intensity 1 or higher had been observed after the main shock as of 10:45 a.m., and no long-period ground motion of class 1 or above had been recorded. It also said earthquake early warning information was issued as the location and strength estimates were updated in the seconds after detection.
Strongest shaking recorded north of Tokyo
In its advisory, the meteorological agency warned that areas hit by stronger shaking could face a higher risk of rockfalls and landslides. It said residents in those locations should stay alert to seismic activity for about a week, with the next two to three days identified as the period when larger follow-on tremors are more likely. JMA said earthquakes producing shaking of up to lower-5 intensity remained possible during that span, and the warning applied to districts where the strongest shaking was observed.
The quake’s focal mechanism was described in preliminary terms as a type with a north-northwest to south-southeast pressure axis. JMA placed the epicenter inland in southern Ibaraki, northeast of Tokyo, and published a map showing the highest reported intensities concentrated in Tochigi and nearby prefectures. The agency’s first intensity bulletin was issued at 10:22 a.m., giving local officials and residents an early outline of where the strongest shaking had been recorded.
Aftershock monitoring becomes immediate focus
No tsunami warning was issued, and the official response quickly centered on monitoring for aftershocks and checking conditions in the affected area. Japan reports both magnitude, which measures the size of an earthquake, and seismic intensity, which records how strongly it is felt at specific locations, and Wednesday’s official data showed the strongest shaking north of Tokyo even as the tremor was widely felt in the capital. By late morning, JMA’s update still showed no post-quake events of intensity 1 or higher.
For Tokyo and surrounding prefectures, the earthquake brought a brief but broad jolt rather than a tsunami threat, with officials focusing on localized hazards and the risk of additional shaking. The confirmed core facts remained unchanged in late-morning updates: a preliminary magnitude of 5.0, a depth of 48 kilometers, an epicenter in southern Ibaraki and a maximum lower-5 intensity in Moka, Tochigi. JMA said people in the hardest-hit areas should continue to monitor official alerts over the coming week, especially over the next two to three days – By Content Syndication Services.