Intellasia East Asia News – M4.9 quake hits Japan’s Yamanashi near Tokyo, no reports of damage

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.8 struck near Mt. Fuji in Japan’s Yamanashi Prefecture on Friday morning, but there were no initial reports of injuries or serious damage to infrastructure.

The quake occurred at around 6:37 a.m., registering lower 5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in Otsuki in the eastern part of the prefecture and 4 in some areas of Kanagawa Prefecture, near Tokyo, including Sagamihara and Atsugi, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The agency said there was no threat of a tsunami following the quake, which was also felt in parts of Tokyo. But it warned that a temblor of similar intensity could occur within a week.

The focus of the quake in the Fuji Five Lakes area around the northern foot of Mt. Fuji was at a depth of about 19 kilometers, it said.

Earlier, quakes of magnitude 4.1 and magnitude 3.6 occurred at 2:18 a.m. and 2:23 a.m., respectively, in the same area. The magnitude 4.1 quake registered 4 on Japan’s intensity scale.

Shinya Tsukada, an official of the agency, said at a press conference that “there is no particular change” to volcanic observation data at the 3,776-metre mountain, Japan’s highest peak.

Some trains ran at reduced speed following the M4.8 quake, but no major traffic disruption was reported. Shinkansen bullet trains ran as usual, while the speed limit on a section of the Chuo Expressway going through Yamanashi Prefecture was lowered to 50 km per hour.

According to TEPCO Power Grid Inc., about 600 households in Fujikawaguchiko in Yamanashi Prefecture experienced electricity outages.

In a separate development, a quake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.4 rocked Japan’s western prefecture of Wakayama near Osaka on Friday morning, but there was no threat of a tsunami, the weather agency said.

The quake occurred at around 9:28 a.m., registering lower 5 on the Japanese scale of 7 in Gobo in the prefecture, it said.

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/12/1d7e1928b8c0-urgent-m49-quake-hits-japans-yamanashi-near-tokyo-no-tsunami-threat.html

 

Category: Japan