Powerful Earthquakes Strike Western Japan

Tokyo, Jan. 6 (Jiji Press)–A series of powerful earthquakes struck western Japan on Tuesday, measuring up to upper 5, the fourth-highest level on the country’s seismic intensity scale, in the western prefectures of Tottori and Shimane. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, a quake with an estimated magnitude of 6.4 occurred at a depth of 11 kilometers in eastern Shimane at around 10:18 a.m., registering upper 5 in the Shimane city of Matsue and the Tottori city of Sakaiminato. Another temblor struck at 10:28 a.m., logging lower 5, the fifth-highest level, in the Shimane city of Yasugi. No tsunamis occurred as a result of the earthquakes. The agency is urging caution against earthquakes measuring upper 5 or higher for about one week in areas that experienced strong shaking. “The latest earthquakes occurred due to a lateral shift of a fault in a place where no active faults are known to exist, but it is known from past cases that temblors tend to occur frequently in this area,” Ayataka Ebita, director of the agency’s Earthquake and Tsunami Observation Division, said at a press conference. In 2000, a 7.3-magnitude earthquake occurred in the western Tottori area, located east of the epicenters of Tuesday’s temblors, registering upper 6 in some areas. Meanwhile, the Japanese government set up a liaison office at the crisis management center of the prime minister’s office. In the western area of Tottori, class 4 long-period ground motion, the strongest in the four-level scale, was observed on Tuesday. It is the first time that level 4 ground motion has been observed in Tottori. Long-period ground motion could lead to stronger shaking of buildings, including upper floors of high-rise buildings and large bridges, posing a risk of damage. Due to Tuesday’s earthquakes, West Japan Railway Co., or JR West, temporarily suspended services of its Sanyo Shinkansen bullet train section between Shin-Osaka Station in the western prefecture of Osaka and Hakata Station in the southwestern prefecture of Fukuoka. According to the Nuclear Regulation Authority, there were no abnormalities at the No. 2 reactor of Chugoku Electric Power Co.’s Shimane nuclear power plant in Matsue, with the reactor continuing to operate. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]