▲ Magnitude 5.9 Earthquake in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan
An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.9 struck the southern part of Ibaraki Prefecture in southeastern Honshu, Japan, at around 2:00 AM on the 23rd.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the hypocenter was at a depth of approximately 68 kilometers.
No tsunami has been triggered by the earthquake.
The quake registered a lower 5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale in areas including Ibaraki Prefecture, Saitama Prefecture, Chiba Prefecture, and Adachi Ward in Tokyo.
A lower 5 intensity level is described as shaking strong enough to cause most people to feel frightened, with tableware on shelves and books in bookcases potentially falling down.
NHK reported that this is the first time an intensity of lower 5 or higher has been recorded across Tokyo's 23 wards since a magnitude 5.9 earthquake centered in northwestern Chiba Prefecture on October 7, 2021.
An intensity of 4 was observed in areas such as Chiyoda Ward and Setagaya Ward in Tokyo, Naka Ward in Yokohama, Urawa Ward in Saitama, Chuo Ward in Chiba, and Utsunomiya in Tochigi Prefecture.
An intensity of 4 was also recorded in parts of Fukushima Prefecture and Gunma Prefecture, while an intensity of 3 was observed in Miyagi Prefecture, Niigata Prefecture, Yamanashi Prefecture, Nagano Prefecture, and Shizuoka Prefecture.
Due to the earthquake, a "long-period ground motion" class 2, which causes the ground to shake slowly over a prolonged period, was recorded in Tokyo's 23 wards, Saitama Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture.
At class 2 shaking, people inside high-rise buildings and other structures feel significant swaying, making it difficult to walk without holding onto something, and tableware or books on shelves may fall.
Professor Shinichi Sakai of the Earthquake Research Institute at the University of Tokyo explained to NHK, "The southern part of Ibaraki Prefecture is a region prone to frequent earthquakes. Because this quake occurred at a relatively deep location, strong shaking appears to have been transmitted over a wide area."
The Japan Meteorological Agency has urged caution, warning that similar earthquakes with a maximum intensity of around lower 5 could occur over the next week or so.
No abnormalities have been reported at the Fukushima Daiichi and Daini nuclear power plants in connection with the earthquake.
Injuries were reported, including a woman in her 60s in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, who fell down a staircase due to the shaking.
Following the earthquake, the Japanese government set up a liaison office at the Prime Minister's Office Crisis Management Center to check for any damage.
The JMA urged caution, noting that landslides and slope failures could occur as the seismic shaking compounds weakened ground conditions in Chiba Prefecture, which was recently hit by record-breaking torrential rain.
The previous day, heavy rainfall exceeding 120 millimeters per hour battered areas including Itabashi Ward in Tokyo, raising concerns over secondary damage combined with the earthquake shaking.
(Photo provided by the Korea Meteorological Administration, Yonhap News)
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