A magnitude 5.3 earthquake, measuring a lower 5 on Japan’s seismic intensity scale, struck western Kanagawa Prefecture at 7:57 p.m. on Friday. There was no threat of a tsunami.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
Lower 5 intensity shaking was felt in the city of Atsugi, the towns of Nakai and Matsuda, and the village of Kiyokawa in Kanagawa. The quake, which occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers, was felt across a wide area, including in Tokyo.
Friday’s jolt, which prompted some emergency early warnings to be sent to mobile phones, comes a day after a magnitude 7.1 quake shook the Kyushu region and prompted the weather agency to issue its first ever alert that a megaquake in the Nankai Trough is slightly more likely than usual.
The epicenter of Friday’s quake, over land in Western Kanagawa, is outside of the area covered by that alert.
Shinichi Sakai, of the University of Tokyo’s Earthquake Research Institute, told NHK that the anticipated Nankai Trough earthquake occurs at the plate boundary, differing in mechanism from Friday evening’s quake, which likely originated within the Earth’s crust.
“The possibility that such earthquakes could be precursors to larger ones cannot be ruled out, so continued caution regarding future seismic activity is necessary,” said Sakai, an expert on seismic activity in the Kanto region.
After the quake, the Tokaido Shinkansen line was suspended between Tokyo and Hamamatsu stations, but the line fully reopened shortly after 9 p.m.
The Odakyu Line, as well as the Tokaido Line between Odawara and Atami stations, have suspended operations.