Magnitude 5.9 earthquake hits Japan’s Honshu island
US Geological Survey measures quake at 5.9 and reports say the strike shook buildings at the site of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant but no tsunami warning issued
A 5.9 magnitude earthquake hit Japan’s main island of Honshu on Saturday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said, shaking Fukushima where crippled nuclear power plants are located, but local media said there was no tsunami warning.
USGS said the quake’s epicentre was located 68 kilometres east-northeast of Iwaki on Honshu. It was measured at a depth of 37 kilometres.
A spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), which owns the nuclear plants, said no irregularities had been found at its Fukushima Daiichi or Daini plants.
The national broadcaster NHK said there was no tsunami warning, and there were no immediate reports of casualties or serious damage.
The quake also jolted Fukushima’s neighbouring areas on Japan’s pacific coast.