Arab News Japan

TOKYO: A strong earthquake with a maximum seismic intensity of 5 struck Miyazaki prefecture with its epicenter off the east coast of the Osumi Peninsula at a depth of about 30 km and an estimated magnitude of 5.8.

There is no fear of tsunami from this earthquake that struck the prefecture at around 00:02 on Sunday, October 2, according to Japan Meteorological Agency.

The agency issued an earthquake early warning before it struck Nichinan city in the prefecture.

Seismic intensity four was observed in Miyazaki City, Miyakonojo City, Kobayashi City, Kushima City, Takanabe Town, and Shintomi Town in Miyazaki Prefecture.

NHK reported a strong horizontal shaking for about 20 seconds, almost simultaneously with the emergency earthquake warning.

In addition, shaking with a seismic intensity of 3 to 1 was observed in Kyushu, Shikoku, the Chugoku region, and Kinki.

It was the first time an earthquake with a seismic intensity of 5 lower or more has been observed in Miyazaki Prefecture since the earthquake with an epicenter in Hyuga-nada on January 22nd of this year.

Preliminary analysis by the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience said the quake appears to be a reverse-fault earthquake with a pressure axis in the northwest-southeast direction.

According to Kyushu Electric Power Company, the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant in Satsuma Sendai City, Kagoshima Prefecture, which observed seismic intensity 3, has not been confirmed to be abnormal due to the earthquake.