TOKYO: A strong 5.7-magnitude earthquake shook central Japan early Sunday, injuring dozens of people, shattering windows and disrupting train services, officials and local media said.
The quake struck at 1.04 am (1604 GMT Saturday) in Shizuoka Prefecture, west of Tokyo, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. No tsunami warning was issued.
Authorities reported no deaths, but the quake shattered storefront windows, knocked items off shelves and disrupted transport services in parts of the country.
An emergency official in Aichi told AFP that authorities had received 16 reports of mostly minor injuries.
Authorities in neighbouring Shizuoka said at least three women had sought emergency medical care, including a woman in her nineties who injured her shoulder after falling from her bed during the shaking.
The local Chunichi Shimbun newspaper and Tokai Television separately reported that at least 24 people were injured across the two regions.
In Toyohashi city in Aichi, windows at a car dealership were found shattered after the quake.
A large bookshop in Toyota city, also in Aichi, reported that merchandise had fallen from shelves.
The quake also caused temporary delays and suspensions to regional train services on Sunday morning, including the Shinkansen bullet trains.
The quake was felt as far west as Osaka, where a foreign resident was taken to hospital after falling from a second-floor apartment when the shaking startled them, local media reported.
Officials in Osaka could not be reached for immediate comment.
Separately, a 4.3-magnitude quake struck the Kumamoto region at 10.53 am (0153 GMT) on Sunday, the Meteorological Agency said.
There were no immediate reports of serious damage or injuries from the second quake.
The southwestern region is still trying to recover from a 7.1-magnitude tremor that killed 38 people, flattened homes and left tens of thousands without power in July.
Japan sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and experiences hundreds of earthquakes every year.
The country is haunted by the massive 9.0-magnitude undersea quake in 2011, which triggered a tsunami that killed or left missing around 18,500 people and wrecked the Fukushima nuclear plant.
