Moderate earthquake jolts Tokyo, no damage

[News_Editor]

Moderate earthquake jolts Tokyo, no damage

2011-07-16 06:54:23 GMT+7 (ICT)

TOKYO (BNO NEWS) -- A moderate earthquake shook the Japanese capital of Tokyo and eastern Japan on late Friday evening, seismologists and witnesses said, but there were no reports of damage or casualties.

The 5.5-magnitude earthquake at 9.01 p.m. local time (1201 GMT) was centered about 57 kilometers (35 miles) north-northeast of Tokyo. It struck about 60 kilometers (37 miles) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).

Tremors with an intensity of 5-minus on the Japanese seismic scale of 0 to 7 were felt in the city of Mouka in southern Tochigi Prefecture, north of Tokyo. Intensity four could be felt in some parts of the capital, but there were no reports of damage or casualties and there was no possibility of a tsunami.

Japan, which is on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, is still recovering from an enormous 9.0-magnitude earthquake which struck off the coast of northeastern Japan on March 11, generating a large tsunami. The earthquake and resulting tsunami left at least 15,538 people killed while 7,060 others remain missing and feared dead.

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