TOKYO—A strong earthquake on Oct. 5 jolted the same area of Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido that was hit by one of the country’s most powerful tremors last month.
The quake, which struck at 8:58 a.m. (2358 GMT Oct. 4), had a preliminary magnitude of 5.3 (since revised to 5.2), and measured a ‘weak 5’ on Japan’s quake intensity scale of 0 to 7, with 7 being the strongest, Japanese broadcaster NHK said.
There was no danger of a tsunami from the quake, it said.
The New Chitose Airport near Sapporo is still under normal operations, NHK reported the transport ministry saying.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake, which it measured at 5.2 magnitude, was centered on Hokkaido’s southern coast.
Japan’s Meteorological Agency said the epicenter depth was 31 km (initially measured as 30 km), NHK reported.
A magnitude 6.7 quake on Sept. 6 paralyzed Hokkaido, an island the size of Austria, killing dozens, triggering landslides and temporarily knocking power to all 5.3 million of its residents.
By Chang-Ran Kim
Friends Read Free