
Arab News Japan
TOKYO: Hokkaido, the main island in the north of Japan was hit by a series of strong earthquakes early on Thursday morning measuring up to 5-plus on Japan’s intensity scale (6 on a scale of 10).
The first big earthquake struck at 35 minutes past midnight. It measured 5.1 on the Richter Scale and 5-minus (5 on a scale of 10) in terms of intensity.
This was followed by a bigger earthquake 18 minutes later, which registered 5.3 on the Richter Scale and 5-plus in intensity. At 2:14 a.m., a 4.6 quake struck in the same area with an intensity of 4.
All the quakes were confined to a relatively small area near the remote northern tip of Hokkaido and there was no danger of a tsunami.
The epicenter was near the township of Kamikawa. Residents remain on alert as a series of earthquakes can sometimes lead to greater tremors in the same time period.