JAPAN: An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.1 hits east of Tokyo but no tsunami warning is issued, the Japan Meteorological Agency says

Record ID: 466141

  • Title: JAPAN: An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.1 hits east of Tokyo but no tsunami warning is issued, the Japan Meteorological Agency says
  • Date: 15th March 2012
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (MARCH 14, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TOKYO STREETS AFTER QUAKE (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) TOKYO RESIDENT, SHINOBU KATO, SAYING: "Recently people keep on saying a big quake's going to hit the the greater Tokyo region. Recently I've been really worried that it's about time for that to happen." TOKYO STREET SCENE
  • Embargoed: 30th March 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan, Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Environment
  • Reuters ID: LVAEAXK05TYH822KXPE6FUPUA0EX
  • Story Text: An area east of Tokyo was hit by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake on Wednesday (March 14), but no tsunami warning was issued and there were no initial reports of damage or troubles at area nuclear plants, the Japan Meteorological Agency and local media said.
    Footage released by NHK showed its newsroom and weather camera shaking when the quake hit.
    Tokyo resident Shinobu Kato was anxious to see another quake hitting the capital.
    "Recently people keep on saying a big quake's going to hit the the greater Tokyo region. Recently I've been really worried that it's about time for that to happen," she said.
    The earthquake, which caused substantial shaking in Ibaraki and Chiba prefectures east of Tokyo, followed just a few hours after a magnitude 6.8 quake jolted northern Japan.
    A tsunami warning was issued but later lifted after that earthquake.
    High-speed bullet trains serving northern Japan were halted and the two runways at Tokyo's Narita International Airport were closed after the quake but quickly resumed operations, local media reported.
    No abnormalities were reported at the Tokai No.2 nuclear power plant northeast of Tokyo, which has been shut for routine maintenance, or at Tokyo Electric Power Co's tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi and Daini plants, local media said.
    Just over one year ago, the northeast coast was struck by a magnitude 9 earthquake, Japan's strongest on record, and a massive tsunami, triggering the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
    There has been a five-fold increase in the number of quakes in the Tokyo metropolitan area since the year-ago disaster, the Tokyo University Earthquake Research Institute has said.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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