Strong Quake Hits Northern Japan’s Hokkaido

Tokyo, Oct. 25 (Jiji Press)–A strong earthquake hit eastern areas of the northernmost Japan prefecture of Hokkaido in the small hours of Saturday. The temblor occurred around 1:40 a.m. at a depth of about 40 kilometers off the southeastern coast of the Nemuro Peninsula in Hokkaido, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. The quake, with an estimated magnitude of 5.8, measured lower 5, the fifth-highest level on Japan’s seismic intensity scale, in the city of Nemuro. The agency called on people in areas jolted by the temblor to be alert for more quakes measuring up to lower 5 on the Japanese scale for about a week. Off the southeastern coast of Hokkaido, an ocean plate is subducting beneath a land plate, and Saturday’s quake occurred at the boundary of the two plates, according to the agency. An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 5.1 struck nearby Wednesday, registering 4 on the Japanese scale in some areas of Hokkaido. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]