Tokyo: A powerful earthquake shook central Tokyo on Monday afternoon, causing temporary suspension of the area’s train system and the runways at one of the capital’s airports.
The magnitude 5.5 quake–centered on the northern part of Saitama prefecture, northwest of Tokyo 56 kilometers below ground–struck at 2:28 p.m. local time (0528 GMT), according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
It measured a lower 5 on Japan’s earthquake scale in southern Ibaraki prefecture northeast of Tokyo. The scale has a highest reading of 7. There was no danger of tsunami, the agency said.
Still, there could be aftershocks of up to level 4 on the intensity scale over the next week, an agency official said at a news conference. No aftershocks had been detected as of 0620 GMT, he added.
The official also warned of the possibility of falling rocks and landslides in areas where there had been strong shaking. No serious injuries have been reported.
Narita International Airport temporarily closed its two runways following the quake but resumed operations at around 0540 GMT, national broadcaster NHK said. Haneda airport, located closer to the center of Tokyo, was operating flights as scheduled.
Some shinkansen bullet-train services and Tokyo subways were temporarily suspended, but restarted after about 10 minutes, NHK said.
There were no reports of irregularities at Japan Atomic Power Co.’s idled Tokai No. 2 nuclear plant in southern Ibaraki, and no changes in radiation levels near the site, the broadcaster said.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. Inc., the operator of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant that was crippled in the devastating March 2011 earthquake, said it found no damage to its power plants from Monday’s quake.
