A strong earthquake rattled Hokkaido early Monday, the U.S. and Japanese meteorological agencies reported, the latest in a series of powerful tremors to hit Japan.
The magnitude 6.2 quake struck shortly before 5:30 a.m. in Hokkaido’s southern region, at a depth of 83 kilometres, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) reported.
The quake registered an upper 5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale in the town of Urahoro, Hokkaido, and a lower 5 in the town of Niikappu, also in Hokkaido, according to the JMA.
No tsunami alert was issued, and the U.S. Geological Survey predicted that property damage and threats to life were minimal, given the region’s limited population, some 200 km east of Sapporo.
Ayataka Ebita, a JMA official who briefed reporters early Monday, said the latest quake is unrelated to the JMA’s special advisory warning of the increased risk of a megaquake — magnitude 8.0 or stronger — after last Monday’s magnitude 7.7 earthquake off Iwate Prefecture.
“It is a one-off earthquake,” he said.
But “in areas that experienced strong shaking, the danger of falling rocks and landslides has increased,” the JMA official told reporters.
Six people were reported injured as a result of last week’s quake, which shook large buildings in Tokyo, hundreds of kilometres from the epicentre.
In addition, 80-centimetre tsunami waves lashed a port in Iwate, while small waves also hit elsewhere in northern Japan.
The special advisory — which covers 182 municipalities from Hokkaido to Chiba Prefecture — expires at 5 p.m. Monday, though this doesn’t mean the risk will be entirely gone once it is lifted. (Japan Times)