6.5-magnitude earthquake strikes Japan: at least one fatality and damaged buildings

A strong earthquake struck near the west-central coast of Japan early Friday, according to Japanese media. The quake inflicted injuries and at least one fatality, which concerned a man that fell off a ladder. Furthermore, several buildings collapsed but no tsunami warning was issued.

The Meteorological Agency of Japan reported several smaller earthquakes following the initial quake and warned of the possibility of other quakes approaching magnitude 6 in the coming week. It is generally known that Japan has frequent earthquakes. For example, in 2011, a massive quake in the country’s northeast caused a devastating tsunami and a nuclear plant meltdown.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the earthquake’s magnitude was 6.2, at a depth of 8.7 kilometers, and that it occurred at 2:42 pm Japan time approximately 50 kilometers off the coast of Anamizu in Ishikawa province. In contrast, Japan’s Meteorological Agency reported that the epicenter of the quake was on land and recorded the quake at a magnitude of 6.3 with a depth of 10 kilometers.

Moreover, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno stated that no abnormalities were reported at the Shika Nuclear Power Plant near the epicenter or any other nuclear power plants. Matsuno said that they would take appropriate action based on the extent of the earthquake's impact and damage while the government had established an earthquake reaction center under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s leadership.