Powerful Quakes Hit Japan's Nagano PrefectureTwo powerful earthquakes hit an inland area northwest of Tokyo early Saturday, each measuring 6 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in Nagano Prefecture, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
The agency did not issue a tsunami warning. The 3:59 a.m. and 4:32 a.m. quakes, with preliminary magnitudes of 6.6 and 5.8 respectively, hit areas including Niigata Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast, which is far from the Pacific coastal area jolted by a magnitude 8.8 quake the previous day.
The focus of both predawn quakes was in central Niigata at a depth of 10 kilometers, the agency said.
The first quake measured lower 6 in Niigata but Tokyo Electric Power Co. said it was continuing to operate its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in the prefecture.
Niigata police said they have received a report of mudslide in Tokamachi city as well as avalanches in Tokamachi and Tsunan town, following the early morning quakes.
Our family lives in Tokamachi, and the snowfall is extremely high there this year. They texted after the first shock, as being okay. They didn't text or email after the second one. The danger there is avalanches and landslides.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend around Sanjo, she did the same thing as your family in Tokamachi - she sent out texts and emails earlier this morning as being okay, but shaken. Yet I haven't heard anything since then from her.
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