A major earthquake struck Japan on Sunday, with eastern Japan and the capital region of Tokyo hit by a 5.9-magnitude quake in the early hours of the morning. Officials said 23 people were injured in the incident, though no lives were lost, and confirmed that there was no risk of a tsunami. According to Japan’s Meteorological Agency, the earthquake’s epicentre was located 70 kilometres underground in the southern part of the prefecture. The US Geological Survey recorded the magnitude at 5.8.
The earthquake left a total of 23 people injured across four prefectures — nine each in Saitama and Kanagawa, four in Chiba, and one in Ibaraki. Since the quake struck while many people were asleep, most injuries occurred as people rushed out of bed in panic, tripping and falling or hitting doors and furniture in the process. In Yokohama, in Kanagawa Prefecture, an 80-year-old woman suffered a serious hip injury after falling from her bed.
The earthquake disrupted the operation of express trains to Tokyo’s Narita Airport, along with some local train services to northeastern regions. However, East Japan Railway Company said that Shinkansen bullet trains continued to run as usual.
The government has set up a dedicated team to assess the damage. Tokyo was left shaken as emergency earthquake alerts sounded on mobile phones across the city. In Tokyo’s Koto area, an underground water pipe burst, sending water flowing onto the road, though staff responded quickly to repair the pipe and stop the leak.
The earthquake also knocked out power supply to around 460 homes in Tokyo. Meanwhile, no hazardous reports have emerged from the more than a dozen nuclear power plants and nuclear-related facilities across the country. Last month, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake that struck the Kumamoto region on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu killed 38 people and injured 364, flattening more than 1,500 buildings.