An earthquake of magnitude 6.1 on the Richter scale jolted 107 kilometres east-southeast of Japan’s Tokyo on Friday.
The earthquake took place at 3:33 pm (IST), the National Center for Seismology (NCS) said in a tweet. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 65 kilometres. Taking to its Twitter handle, NCS stated, “Earthquake of Magnitude:6.1, Occurred on 26-05-2023, 15:33:25 IST, Lat: 35.42 & Long: 140.80, Depth: 65 Km, Location: 107km ESE of Tokyo, Japan.”
Further details are awaited.
Earlier on May 11, several people were left injured after an earthquake of magnitude 5.2 on the Richter Scale hit areas surrounding Tokyo Bay early on Thursday, reported Kyodo News.
According to the Japanese weather agency and local authorities, the earthquake was also witnessed in areas including Chiba Prefecture and downtown Tokyo.
The agency also stated that the first earthquake at 4:16 am registered an upper 5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in Kisarazu and a lower 5 in Kimitsu, both in Chiba Prefecture and a 4 in areas including Tokyo’s Chiyoda and Chiyoda wards.
Since March 2012, it was the first time that Chiba Prefecture was shaken by an upper 5 earthquake, according to Kyodo News. Roof tiles of three homes got dislocated and fell on the ground, while the building windows had developed cracked from the shaking in Kisarazu, Kyodo News reported.
Five elderly people sustained minor injuries in Chiba Prefecture. Another two more people were injured in adjacent Kanagawa Prefecture, where a woman fell at home and a man suffered a head injury after a light fell from a shelf while he was asleep.