Tokyo, 3 December, /AJMEDIA/
An earthquake of magnitude 4.8 struck near Mt. Fuji on Friday morning, followed by a bigger one in an area not so far away from Japan’s western city of Osaka, but there were no reports of injuries or serious damage to infrastructure.
The first quake occurred at around 6:37 a.m., registering lower 5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in Otsuki in the eastern part of Yamanashi Prefecture and 4 in some areas near Tokyo, including Sagamihara and Atsugi, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
The agency said there was no threat of a tsunami following the two quakes. But it warned that a temblor of similar intensity could occur within a week.
Seismologists said it is most likely that the two quakes are unrelated.
The focus of the quake in the Fuji Five Lakes area around the northern foot of Mt. Fuji was at a depth of about 19 kilometers, according to the agency.
Earlier, quakes of magnitude 4.1 and magnitude 3.6 occurred at 2:18 a.m. and 2:23 a.m., respectively, in the same area.
Shinya Tsukada, an official of the agency, said at a press conference that “there is no particular change” to volcanic observation data at the 3,776-meter mountain, Japan’s highest peak.
In the same area, a series of quakes including one with an intensity of lower 5, took place in January 2012.
Some trains ran at reduced speed following the M4.8 quake, but no major traffic disruption was reported. Shinkansen bullet trains ran as usual, while the speed limit on a section of the Chuo Expressway going through Yamanashi Prefecture was lowered to 50 km per hour.
According to TEPCO Power Grid Inc., about 600 households in Fujikawaguchiko in Yamanashi Prefecture experienced electricity outages.
In a separate development, a quake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.4 rocked the country’s western prefecture of Wakayama near Osaka at around 9:28 a.m., registering lower 5 on the Japanese scale of 7 in Gobo, according to the weather agency. The focus was at a depth of 18 km.
