Arab News Japan

TOKYO: A series of earthquakes jolted various parts of the Japanese archipelago on April 4, but no damage or tsunami has been reported so far, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The latest were two earthquakes that hit Chiba and surrounding prefectures Monday night with 2 minutes between them, causing some shaking that reached Tokyo. 

According to the Japanese Metrological Agency, at around 22:31, an earthquake with a maximum seismic intensity of 3.9 hit the northwest coast of Chiba prefecture, which borders Tokyo. The epicenter was at a depth of 70 km in the Pacific Ocean. Just before around 2 minutes, a tremblor hit the same spot with 4.7 magnitude at a depth of 60km.

Earlier in the day, a seismic intensity of 4 was observed in Suzu city of Noto Peninsula, Ishikawa Prefecture. Another magnitude 2.7 earthquake hit the north Oshima District in Hokkaido prefecture, north of Japan.

Further, a quake hit offshore Fukushima prefecture with a magnitude of 5.1 at 40km depth in the pacific. A few minutes later, Okinawa experienced one with a magnitude of 4.2 km underground.

Other quakes hit at various hours on April 4, including 3.3 magnitude in Southern Miyagi prefecture at 03:45, with the epicenter at a depth of 90 km.

Elsewhere, there were also three earthquakes with seismic intensities of 1, 2, 3 and 4 on the morning of the 4th.

Analysts say the earth’s crust movement is the reason behind some of those quakes, especially in the Noto region where, according to local media, the ground has risen by more than 3 cm at the observation point in Suzu City.

Associate Professor Takuya Nishimura of the Kyoto University Disaster Prevention Research Institute, specializing in crustal movements, told NHK that it is rare to observe such changes in places with no volcanoes. 

The government’s seismic investigation committee has reportedly said that “a series of seismic activity is expected to continue for the time being in Japan.”

The Meteorological Agency also warned that seismic activity is expected to continue and called on the nation to prepare for strong shaking by taking measures such as fixing furniture and removing items prone to falling placed on or hung on high shelves.