Large Earthquake jolts Tokyo

[Pastor Dale Morgan]

*Great Earthquakes In Diverse Places

Large Earthquake jolts Tokyo*

Sat Jun 6, 2009 7:24am BST

TOKYO, June 6 (Reuters) - An earthquake jolted the Tokyo area on
Saturday, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage and
no tsunami warning was issued, Japan's public broadcaster NHK said.

The earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 5.9 and was focused 30 km
(18.64 miles) below the surface of the earth in Chiba prefecture, east
of Tokyo, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The earthquake measured 3 on the Japanese intensity scale, which gauges
ground motion. A quake with that reading is typically strong enough to
cause electric wires to swing slightly and to be felt by most people in
a building.

Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically
active areas. The country accounts for about 20 percent of the world's
earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.

In October 2004, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 struck the
Niigata region in northern Japan, killing 65 people and injuring more
than 3,000.

That was the deadliest quake since a magnitude 7.3 tremor hit the city
of Kobe in 1995, killing more than 6,400. (Reporting by David Dolan;
Editing by Hugh Lawson)