Magnitude 5.7 Earthquake Strikes Central Japan, Injuring Dozens

A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck central Japan in the early hours of Sunday, injuring more than 20 people, shattering shop windows and disrupting high-speed rail services, officials said.

The tremor hit at 1:04 a.m. local time on Sunday, 8 November, with its centre beneath western Shizuoka Prefecture, west of Tokyo, at a depth of about 40 kilometres, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The United States Geological Survey gave a slightly lower figure of magnitude 5.5.

No tsunami warning was issued, and authorities reported no deaths. But the shaking, which struck while many people were asleep, was strong enough to knock items from shelves, crack windows and send residents fleeing into the streets across several prefectures.

Strongest shaking in Aichi in nearly 30 years

The strongest shaking was recorded in neighbouring Aichi Prefecture, where the city of Chita registered upper 5 on Japan’s seven-level seismic intensity scale — the first jolt of that strength observed in Aichi since March 1997.

Lower 5 shaking was also recorded in parts of Aichi, Shizuoka, Gifu and Nagano prefectures. The tremor was felt across a wide area of central and western Japan, including Hamamatsu, Kyoto, Nara, Yamanashi and Gifu. It was not felt in Tokyo, which lies well to the east of the epicentre.

In Tokoname, in Aichi, a woman in her 50s was taken to hospital with a fractured ankle, fire officials said. In Toyota, a man in his 40s and a woman in her 80s fell during the shaking and suffered head injuries; both were conscious when they reached hospital. In neighbouring Shizuoka, at least three women sought emergency medical care, including a woman in her 90s who injured her shoulder after falling from her bed.

Injury toll still rising

Reports of the number of people hurt varied as the morning went on. Early accounts put the figure at three, while later reports from local media said at least 22 people had been injured across Aichi and Shizuoka, with some outlets reporting 24 or more. Two of those injured were reported to be in a serious condition.

An emergency official in Aichi Prefecture said authorities had received 16 reports of injuries, most of them minor. Officials stressed that the figures were preliminary and could rise as hospitals and local authorities completed their checks.

Damage was reported across the affected area. Shop windows shattered, goods tumbled from shelves and, in the town of Higashiura, parts of the water supply were disrupted, with water seen gushing from manholes.

Central Japan Railway Company delayed Tokaido Shinkansen services between Shizuoka and Gifu-Hashima stations while safety inspections of tracks and infrastructure were carried out. Other local train services were also affected.

Aftershocks expected

The Japan Meteorological Agency warned residents in the affected areas to remain prepared for further strong earthquakes over the coming week, particularly during the next two to three days.

At a news conference after the quake, agency official Ebita Ayataka said residents in areas that shook strongly should watch for further tremors and rain because of a higher risk of falling rocks and landslides. The agency also lowered the threshold for issuing landslide warnings in the hardest-hit municipalities in Aichi, taking account of ground loosened by the shaking.

Later on Sunday, at 10:53 a.m., the agency recorded a magnitude 4.3 earthquake in the Kumamoto area, in the south-west of the country, although it was not immediately clear whether it was connected to the earlier tremor.

Japan sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an arc of intense seismic activity, and experiences hundreds of perceptible earthquakes each year. Buildings and infrastructure are built to strict earthquake-resistant standards, which is one reason even strong tremors often cause relatively limited damage.

A region used to shaking — but not this strong

Sunday’s quake was a reminder of that risk. Shizuoka and Aichi lie in a densely populated industrial belt between Tokyo and Nagoya, home to car factories, ports and some of the country’s busiest rail lines. The Tokaido Shinkansen, which carries hundreds of thousands of passengers a day between Tokyo and Osaka, runs directly through the affected area.

The disruption, though brief, showed how quickly a moderate earthquake can ripple through daily life in one of the world’s most earthquake-prepared countries — and how much depends on the early-warning systems and building codes that Japan has refined over decades.

Authorities said they would continue to monitor the situation and urged residents to secure furniture, check on elderly neighbours and keep emergency supplies close at hand in case of further tremors.