A moderate earthquake jolted central and western Japan on Sunday, injuring two people, but there were no reports of major damage and no tsunami warning was issued.
An official at Kameyama City, one of the sites hardest hit by the magnitude 5,4 quake, said there had been reports of roof tiles falling from houses and walls collapsing, but no power outage or major disruption to the water system.
The focus of the tremor that occurred at 12.19pm (3.19am GMT) was 16km below the surface of the earth, in Mie Prefecture, about 300km west of Tokyo, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
”The shaking was like a big thud,” said Motoko Asada, a 56-year-old housewife in Yokkaichi City, just east of Kameyama and where one house had been badly damaged.
”Luckily, nothing fell and there’s been no damage to my house,” Asada told Reuters.
Two people in Kameyama were injured after a part of a ceiling fell in a restaurant, and a stone wall of a 16th century castle had partly collapsed, the city official said.
Kameyama is home to Sharp’s flagship liquid crystal display factory and the region is often called ”Crystal Valley” because there are numerous LCD parts and materials suppliers located there to feed into the Sharp plant.
Sharp, the world’s third-largest LCD TV maker, said it had halted operations at the Kameyama plant for safety checks, but resumed work after confirming there had been no damage to the facility.
The high speed bullet train service was also briefly halted for checks but resumed service, and some highways were temporarily closed for inspections.
Late last month, a 6,9-magnitude quake struck the Noto peninsula in Ishikawa prefecture, about 300km west of Tokyo, killing one person, injuring more than 200 people and destroying many homes.
Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world’s most seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20% of the world’s earthquakes of magnitude six or greater. – Reuters