Baghdad-INA
Buildings shook in Tokyo and alarms sounded on phones when a 5.3-magnitude earthquake struck near the Japanese capital, without authorities issuing a tsunami warning.
The Japan Meteorological Agency reported that the earthquake, which occurred in southern Ibaraki, east of Tokyo, was at a depth of 50 kilometers.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, but bullet trains suspended their operations between Tokyo and Koriyama in the Fukushima region in northeastern Japan due to a power outage, according to the Japanese Broadcasting Corporation (NHK).
Hiroyuki Sanada, an official at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said that “no abnormality” had been reported at the Tokai Daini nuclear plant in Ibaraki, which was shut down for safety tests.
Japan is exposed to about 1,500 earthquakes every year, which represents about 18% of the world’s earthquakes, but the majority of them are mild.
Despite strict building restrictions in Japan, many of them, especially outside major cities, are old and weak.
This was demonstrated by the earthquake that struck Noto Island last New Year’s Day, with a magnitude of 7.5, killing more than 230 people, most of them due to the collapse of the old buildings in which they lived.