7/23/2005

Earthquake shakes Tokyo area

An earthquake struck Tokyo Metropolitan area, shaking buildings and injuring five people in a shopping center. Japan's Meteorological Agency said that it occurred at 4:35 p.m. (JST), the epicenter of the 5.7 magnitude quake was 90 km deep in Chiba prefecture near Tokyo, adding there was no risk of a tsunami. The earthquake caused a steel tower to collapse in Tokyo, and damaged the roof of a nearby building, it said. The quake led to the stoppage of many train services, public broadcaster NHK said.

This is the second largest earthquake after the one in San Francisco I have ever experienced. Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.