A magnitude-5.3 earthquake struck Tokyo and eastern Japan on Friday evening, according to government reports, just one day after the country issued its first advisory about the potential for a massive earthquake in the western region.
While the extent of damage near the epicenter remains unclear, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stated that no significant damage had been reported as of his address at his office in Tokyo shortly after the tremor. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) identified the quake’s epicenter in Kanagawa Prefecture, located just south of the capital, at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles).
Kanagawa is not part of the Nankai Trough region along the Pacific coast, which was the focus of Thursday’s advisory warning of a possible megaquake with a magnitude of 8 or higher.
No tsunami warning was issued, although residents in Tokyo and the prefectures of Kanagawa, Saitama, Yamanashi, and Shizuoka received strong tremor alerts. As a precaution, some train services, including the Shinkansen high-speed rail operated by Central Japan Railway, were temporarily halted in areas close to Tokyo and Kanagawa.
Public broadcaster NHK reported that there was no damage at the Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Shizuoka or at thermal power plants in Kanagawa.
