Japan rattled by 8.5 magnitude off-shore earthquake that shook almost every part of the country

A powerful earthquake struck near remote Japanese islands and shook most of the country yesterday evening, but it occurred well beneath the earth’s surface and did not trigger a tsunami warning. Two people suffered non-life-threatening injuries, and there were no reports of major damage.

The magnitude-8.5 offshore quake struck off the Ogasawara islands at a depth of 590 kilometres, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The US Geological Survey said the quake had a magnitude of 7.8 and a depth of 678 kilometres.

The temblor was powerful enough to rattle most of Japan, from the southern islands of Okinawa to Hokkaido in the north. It caused buildings to sway in Tokyo - about 1,000 kilometres north of the Ogasawara islands - and disrupted some train services in the city. About 400 houses in Saitama prefecture, just north of the capital, were without power, according to the Tokyo Electric Power Co.

At Tokyo’s Roppongi Hills shopping and business complex, elevators stopped soon after the earthquake struck the area, forcing hundreds of visitors to climb down the stairs. Among them were about 200 people who came to see the Star Wars exhibit on the 52nd floor. 

In Saitama, a woman in her 70s sustained a minor head injury when a ceramic plate fell from a cupboard, local police said. In Kawasaki, just south of Tokyo, a 56-year-old office worker fell down when the quake caught him by surprise and suffered a rib injury, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK.

Yoshiyuki Sasamoto, a municipal official on Chichijima island, which is part of the Ogasawara island group, told NHK that he initially felt a mild tremor, but when he thought it was over “there was a violent shaking and I couldn’t even stand on my feet.”