Magnitude-5.6 quake hits north of Tokyo; no tsunami warning

A strong earthquake measuring a preliminary magnitude of 5.6 struck in the Kanto region north of Tokyo on Tuesday, but no tsunami alert was issued.

The 12:28 p.m. quake, which originated in the southern part of Ibaraki Prefecture at a depth of around 50 km, registered lower 5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in parts of Tochigi, Gunma and Saitama prefectures, and 4 in Tokyo, the Meteorological Agency said.

Japan Atomic Power Co. confirmed there were no abnormalities at its Tokai No. 2 nuclear power plant in Ibaraki Prefecture.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said it did not receive any reports of new problems at the Fukushima No. 1 or Fukushima No. 2 plants.

An ambulance responded to a call from a man in his 50s in Kiryu, Gunma Prefecture, who reported he was bleeding after being hit by falling lighting equipment, according to the local fire department. The man was treated at a hospital.

Firefighters said they received an emergency call that a woman in her 30s had been injured after falling at a factory office in Ota, Gunma Prefecture. She is believed to have sustained head injuries.

In the city of Maebashi, also in Gunma Prefecture, an unoccupied car was partially buried under a mudslide.

Elsewhere, a construction worker in his 40s injured his back after building materials fell on him at a construction site in Konosu, Saitama Prefecture, police and firefighters said.

Yohei Hasegawa, a Meteorological Agency official in charge of monitoring earthquake and tsunami, warned the public to be careful of aftershocks.

East Japan Railway Co. said the quake temporarily halted its bullet train service in the Tohoku region. Operations between Tokyo and Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, on the Tohoku Shinkansen Line resumed at 12:37 p.m.

Services were also temporarily suspended on the Joetsu, Nagano and Tokaido shinkansen lines.

No damage was reported to runways or facilities at Haneda or Narita airports, and there was also no impact on flight operations, according to Narita International Airport Corp. and the transport ministry.

The government set up a task force at the prime minister’s office to gather information about quake damage.

Police said the quake caused parts of the ceiling near a ticket gate in Kitasakado Station on the Tobu Tojo Line in Saitama Prefecture to fall, while windowpanes in a store in Konosu were shattered. No injuries were reported in either incident.