Powerful Quake Injures 17 in Central, Eastern Japan

Tokyo, June 27 (Jiji Press)–A powerful earthquake struck Yamanashi Prefecture in central Japan on Friday night, leaving a total of 17 people injured there and nearby areas including the eastern prefecture of Kanagawa. The quake, with an estimated magnitude of 5.6, occurred around 10:28 p.m., registering lower 6, the third-highest level on the Japanese seismic intensity scale, in the town of Fujikawaguchiko and upper 5, the fourth highest, in the city of Otsuki, both in Yamanashi, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. Eight people were slightly injured in five municipalities in Yamanashi. One each sustained minor injuries in Yokohama, the capital of Kanagawa, south of Tokyo, and the city of Odawara in the prefecture. In the city of Gotenba, Shizuoka Prefecture, south of Yamanashi, a woman in her 90s suffered minor injuries after falling down the stairs. Six people were also slightly injured in Tokyo. The temblor was traced to a depth of 20 kilometers in the Fuji Five Lakes area in eastern Yamanashi. The lakes are located at the foot of Mount Fuji, an active volcano and Japan’s tallest mountain. The agency said that there has been no change in the level of volcanic activity in the mountain, which straddles Yamanashi and Shizuoka, after the quake and that there is no risk of an eruption. “We urge caution against earthquakes measuring up to around lower 6 for about a week in areas where strong shaking was observed” in Friday’s temblor, Ayataka Ebita, director of the Earthquake and Tsunami Observation Division at the meteorological agency, said at a press conference. Heavy rain from a seasonal front or a typhoon may increase the risk of landslides. Eastern Yamanashi and western Kanagawa are prone to earthquakes due to interactions between the Philippine sea plate and the land-side plate. Earthquakes with magnitudes of around 5 also occurred in 2012, 2021 and 2024, each recording a maximum seismic intensity of lower 5, the fifth-highest level on the Japanese scale. Friday’s quake registered a higher reading apparently because it occurred at a shallow depth and the area is vulnerable to shaking, according to the agency. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]