Strong earthquake jolts Tokyo, preliminary magnitude at 6.1 (updated)
07/10/2021 15:13
(Adds Kishida tweet, reports of pipes bursting)
By Elaine Lies and Hideyuki Sano
TOKYO, Oct 7 (Reuters) - A strong earthquake with a
preliminary magnitude of 6.1 jolted Tokyo and surrounding areas
late on Thursday, stopping train lines and causing sporadic
power cuts, but there were no reports of major damage, Japan's
public broadcaster NHK said.
The tremor, at 10:41 p.m. (1341 GMT), registered "strong-5"
on Japan's intensity scale, a level that could cause some damage
to buildings and power cuts, the Japan Meteorological Agency
said.
The quake had an epicentre in Chiba prefecture, to the east
of the capital Tokyo. There was no danger of a tsunami from the
quake, NHK said.
The government set up an emergency response task force.
NHK showed new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida rushing back to
his office. He told reporters he had instructed the task force
to "find out about the latest situation, coordinate with local
authorities on response", and to provide information to the
public in a speedy manner.
Several minutes earlier Kishida tweeted: "Take actions to
protect your lives while confirming the latest information."
Private broadcaster TBS reported incidents of water pipes
bursting in Tokyo. Tokyo Electric Power Corporation reported 250
cases of blackouts in the city.
Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most
seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20% of
the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.
On March 11, 2011, the northeast coast was struck by a
magnitude 9 earthquake, the strongest in Japan on record, and a
massive tsunami. Those events severely damaged the Fukushima
Daiichi nuclear power plant, triggering the world's worst
nuclear crisis since Chernobyl a quarter of a century earlier.
(Reporting by Hideyuki Sano, Tokyo Newsroom
Editing by Mark Heinrich)
((hideyuki.sano@thomsonreuters.com; +81 3 4520 1195))