A moderate but strong earthquake on the Richter scale hit Japan’s most populated island from the capital region of Tokyo yesterday, causing panic among roughly 30 million people who were not badly injured.
The earthquake was recorded at 40km depth and centred on the ocean coast, Japan’s Meteorological Agency (JMA) said. As the centre of the quake was offshore located on the eastern coast of Honshu we could feel it all around Japan at large metropolitan areas (Tokyo and Sendai, especially Tokyo for several seconds).
According to local officials, there was no tsunami warning following the earthquake, lessening concern in a country scared of seismic activity. Japan is on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” one of the most earthquake-prone areas on earth and this is so typical it has made any kind of seismic activity a common occurrence in Japan.
Emergency services were quickly mobilized to check the infrastructure systems such as trains, highways, power. A few trains, including the Shinkansen bullet train network, were suspended at Shinkansen Railway Complex for safety, and when these ones resumed, following checks.
Social media users told of sudden jolts and shaking furniture. Many evacuated buildings as well as to make sure they practiced earthquake safety.
Local officials urge people to be cautious and say to expect aftershocks in the coming days. Residents must be in charge of emergency kit supply to prepare for a possibility if news would come from the government, they say.
Japan’s rigorous building codes and disaster preparedness measures were largely attributed at one point or the other in the past for reducing damage during earthquakes of this magnitude. There are no decisions made now and an assessment is being made.
