A 5.7-magnitude earthquake struck central Japan early Sunday (November 8), injuring dozens of people, shattering windows and disrupting train services, according to officials and local media.
The earthquake struck Shizuoka Prefecture, west of Tokyo, at 1.04 a.m., the Japan Meteorological Agency said. No tsunami warning was issued.
No deaths were reported. However, the tremor shattered storefront windows, knocked merchandise off shelves and disrupted transport services in several areas.
An emergency official in Aichi Prefecture told AFP that authorities had received 16 reports of injuries, most of them minor.
Authorities in neighbouring Shizuoka reported that at least three women had sought emergency medical treatment. Among them was a woman in her 90s who injured her shoulder after falling from her bed during the earthquake.
Local newspaper Chunichi Shimbun and Tokai Television separately reported that at least 24 people had been injured across the two prefectures.
In Toyohashi city, windows at a car dealership were shattered, while a large bookstore in Toyota city reported that merchandise had fallen from its shelves.
The earthquake also caused temporary delays and suspensions of regional train services on Sunday morning, including Shinkansen bullet train services.
The tremor was felt as far west as Osaka. Local media reported that a foreign resident was taken to hospital after falling from a second-floor apartment when the shaking startled them. Officials in Osaka could not immediately be reached for comment.
Separately, a 4.3-magnitude earthquake struck the Kumamoto region at 10.53 a.m. on Sunday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. There were no immediate reports of serious damage or injuries from the second earthquake.
The southwestern region is still recovering from a 7.1-magnitude earthquake in July that killed 38 people, destroyed homes and left tens of thousands without electricity.
Japan is located along the Pacific Ring of Fire and experiences hundreds of earthquakes every year.
The country continues to remember the devastating 9.0-magnitude undersea earthquake in 2011, which triggered a tsunami that killed or left missing around 18,500 people and caused extensive damage to the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Source: AFP / Agencies
