A magnitude 5.3 earthquake shook Tokyo and surrounding areas Friday evening.
Japan’s Meteorological Agency says the quake hit just before 8 p.m. It had an intensity of lower 5 on the Japanese scale of 0 to 7 in the hardest-hit areas, including the city of Atsugi in Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo.
Officials say the quake was focused in the western area of Kanagawa, at a depth of 10 kilometers. It shook buildings.
Railway operators say the Tohoku, Joetsu and Hokuriku Shinkansen bullet train services were temporarily suspended. All of them resumed within about 10 minutes.
The operator of the Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train line says it resumed services at around 9:00 p.m. after suspending them in some sections after an earthquake hit eastern Japan on Friday night.
Odakyu Electric Railway says services have resumed except between Ebina and Odawara stations following their suspension for safety checks following Friday’s earthquake.
The operator says it will take a considerable amount of time to resume services between Ebina and Odawara stations, as workers are conducting safety inspections on foot.
Professor Sakai Shinichi of the University of Tokyo’s Earthquake Research Institute spoke about the magnitude 5.3 earthquake that hit Kanagawa Prefecture Friday night.
He pointed out that a mega-quake that could occur in the Nankai Trough in the Pacific will be generated where tectonic plates meet.
He said this is a different mechanism from that of Friday’s quake, which is believed to have started within the earth’s crust.
Sakai argued that such an earthquake could be a precursor to a larger one, and that it cannot be denied that the latest quake will affect future seismic activity. He said people need to stay on the alert.
The professor pointed out that earthquakes of this scale have occurred in the western part of Kanagawa Prefecture once every several years.
He said he thinks many people may worry that this quake could be linked to a possible mega-quake in the Nankai Trough.
Sakai said disaster preparedness is very important because earthquakes of this level can occur anywhere in Japan.