. | . |
Five injured after quake hits Japan by Staff Writers Tokyo (AFP) April 9, 2018
A 5.6-magnitude quake hit western Japan early Monday, injuring five people and damaging buildings and roads, as officials warned stronger tremors could come in the days ahead. The shallow tremor was gauged as magnitude 5.6 by the US Geological Survey and 6.1 by Japan's meteorological agency on the Richter scale. It rocked the west of the main island of Honshu, 96 kilometres (60 miles) north of Hiroshima, at 1:32am (1632 GMT Sunday). The Japanese agency urged residents to stay vigilant. "We want the areas that experienced strong tremors to be on guard in the coming week or so against quakes that could be as powerful as the upper five," agency official Toshiyuki Matsumori told a news conference, referring to a Japanese seismic scale with a maximum intensity of seven. An upper five on Japan's Shindo scale refers to tremors that make it difficult to walk without holding onto something. Strong aftershocks could continue for two to three days, Matsumori said, and several strong tremors have already been felt in the region hit by the initial quake. Five people were hurt in the quake, including a 17-year-old boy who broke his leg after falling from his bed, but no life-threatening injuries were reported. Around 100 households lost water in Oda City, prompting troops to send trucks to set up makeshift water supply stations. Damage to some buildings and roads were also reported. No problems were reported at the nearby Shimane nuclear power station, which has been offline for a checkup. Japan sits on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire" where a large proportion of the world's earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are recorded. A devastating magnitude 9.0 quake -- which struck under the Pacific Ocean on March 11, 2011 -- and a resulting tsunami caused widespread damage and claimed the lives of thousands of people.
|
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |