Japan Earthquake: Magnitude 5.4 Temblor Hits Central Japan, At Least 7 Hurt

TOKYO -- A magnitude-5.4 earthquake has rattled central Japan and at least seven people are hurt.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake hit Thursday in Nagano, some 170 kilometers (105 miles) northwest of Tokyo. The quake was just four kilometers (2.5 miles) deep. No tsunami warning was issued, the agency said.

Nagano fire department official Sadahiko Furusawa said seven people were injured in the quake, but none was in critical condition.

Japan is located on the Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines spanning the Pacific Basin, and is regularly hit by earthquakes. The nation is recovering from the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami on March 11, which left more than 22,000 people dead or missing in northeastern Japan.

Comments

[CaptD]

10:25 AM on 07/01/2011

Case in Point:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jun/30/british-government-plan-play-down-fukushima

[matdough]

07:47 AM on 07/01/2011

Hurry and send the U.S. all your BEAUTIFUL WOMEN !

[Antona Smith]

01:33 AM on 07/01/2011

prayers for the people of Japan, my son is home now, but a piece of his (and my heart) will remain on the island that was his residence for four years.

[CaptD]

11:19 AM on 07/03/2011

So Sad for the Japanese people that put their trust in their Gov't. and TEPCO!

Now they fave a Trillion Dollar Eco-Disaster with no end in sight, which will devastate their economy and the lives of them and their children's children!

[frankerin]

06:11 PM on 06/30/2011

There will be years of aftershocks from that very large quake, and the plates which are fractured will take those years to reach some balance, if possible. No way around it, Japan must cope with all this no matter whose thinks they can run the country.

[Rob y]

05:53 PM on 06/30/2011

Japan is hit with another earthquake. Natural disasters make people feel thay are not in control and not feel indestructible, which is really not a bad thing. People should not put too much trust in themselves but put their trust and hope in Jesus. Jesus saves

[Man in the middle]

06:08 PM on 06/30/2011

Why hasn't Jesus helped out with Fukashima??

[peeaceandquiet]

09:19 PM on 06/30/2011

Jesus never promised us there would not be problems. His promise was that he would be beside us to get us through it. Read the Bible and you won't have questions like you have.

[davidlugh]

06:16 PM on 06/30/2011

and what does a fictional character have to do with tectonic activity? What a ridiculous post.

[hedonistnutritionist]

05:13 PM on 06/30/2011

Come on, Mother Nature: Give Japan a break! No more earthquakes!!!

[davidlugh]

06:19 PM on 06/30/2011

according to Rob above, Mother Nature wouldn't exist...only illusory people found in really old books to whom we're supposedly to turn to stop these quakes? or to be saved from them? Not quite sure what point he's trying to make with the whole jesus thing. Sad.

[peeaceandquiet]

09:21 PM on 06/30/2011

You missed the whole point I see. I feel sad for people that will find out someday but it will be too late. Find Jesus and your life will be better.

[CaptD]

10:23 AM on 07/01/2011

Flagged Off topic and SICK

[bouvdoggie]

04:23 PM on 06/30/2011

Why does our news refuse to give us any further information about other countries? I have to go to the English versions of German, even the BBC does a better job.

[davidlugh]

06:17 PM on 06/30/2011

it's callde censorship The US media and citizens are too busy keeping track of the wars we've begun and the countries we're sponsoring. In other words, the US is incredibly arrogant and thinks of itself as "number one" while other countries (Canada, BBC) actually give a more broad spectrum analysis of real world events....beyond the borders of this country.

[CaptD]

10:23 AM on 07/01/2011

Fanned and Fav'd!
For telling it like it is...

[2curious]

03:33 PM on 07/01/2011

US media is like a meatless corn dog......

[Aaron Calhoun]

03:15 AM on 07/03/2011

Crispy goodness without those unhealthy nitrates? ;P

[Stand Up for your Belief]

03:46 PM on 06/30/2011

7 is better than hundreds!!! Thank GOD!

[Sigel]

03:17 PM on 06/30/2011

For many weeks after the March earthquake, all of the media stories reported it as a 7.0 magnitude.
When was it upgraded to a 9.0, and by whom?

[TokyoTea]

04:22 PM on 06/30/2011

As i recall, it was originally reported as an 8.9 and upgraded to 9.0 within a couple of days. If you heard 7.0, I'm wondering if that was measured on the Japanese scale (which only goes up to 7) rather than on the Richter scale (which goes up to 10)?

[Recce1]

04:32 PM on 06/30/2011

Sigel, it was first reported as a 7.9 and then upgraded by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The differences in reported values may have been the system used. Some places use the old Richter Scale while the new scale it the Moment Magnitude Scale. In either circumstance, initial reports are often revised.

It's interesting to note that the quake moved the island of Honshu a number of feet and shifted the axis of the earth by several inches.

Much of the information can be found on Wikipedia.

[mayabelle1107]

02:03 PM on 06/30/2011

This fault line or subduction zone will be moving now for years to come. Japan will be experiencing this kind of seismic activity for possible even a decade to come...

[Sigel]

03:22 PM on 06/30/2011

To mayabelle: You are grossly underestimating the future length of time for these occurrences.
They have been going on for millions of years and will continue to do so for at least that long, as long the the earth still exists as we know it.

[Recce1]

04:42 PM on 06/30/2011

Mayabelle may have been referring to the aftershocks specifically related to the quake in March. But you're right that such quakes will exist for millennia until our sun goes nova. After that the earth may or may not exist.

[kojoman]

08:40 PM on 06/30/2011

@ Sigel; How true.. Another thing to consider is the length of time we human have existed on planet earth.. In other words, nothing is forever, nor was it intended to be..

[Doyle Meachum]

02:02 PM on 06/30/2011

If Japan is hit like China, we will have nothing to buy here in the USA...

[moch5team]

03:13 PM on 06/30/2011

that a way Doyle. Don't think about the people think about how it effects you directly when you can't buy your Toshiba television anymore.

[mebemommee06]

04:40 PM on 06/30/2011

they was joking ,, no wonder u have no fans!

[Koushiro Izumi]

05:45 PM on 06/30/2011

That Toshiba branded t.v. might have been assembled in Mexico anyway.

[MrCool]

03:39 PM on 06/30/2011

Our road to recovery......

[mbkeefer]

01:37 PM on 06/30/2011

Granted it is a pretty shallow quake at only 4 Km, that will make it rather violent near the epicenter. But still, injuries with only 5.4 in Japan? This story needs lots more details.

[mbkeefer]

03:08 PM on 06/30/2011

In Japan you would normally not bother getting out of your chair for a 5.4.

[Sigel]

03:30 PM on 06/30/2011

To mbkeefer: EVERY HuffPostAOL article needs more details.
I think the the writers and editors do no original investigations of their own.
They just plagiarize other companies' artcles and gleen only bits and pieces from them.

[PashaRu]

01:26 PM on 06/30/2011

Maybe this wouldn't be big news on its own, but the March 11th quake in Japan makes it worth mentioning. What bothers me is that this is on page 12 of AOL news, while their top new stories are: Chris Hanson caught cheating on his wife, Jennifer Lopez may not return to Idol, and the winner of some show called "The Voice." Really? This is the most important stuff going on, about which the American public needs to be informed? "Breaking news" and "top news story" = celebrity gossip. Winchell, Cronkite, and Brinkley must be turning over in thier graves. BBC puts most American media outlets to shame.

[looneydoone]

02:14 PM on 06/30/2011

AOL "news"
Huff post community forum
a forced marriage between incompatibles......it's a disaster since the takeover

[racetrak3]

01:01 PM on 06/30/2011

Japan keeps this pace up....Godzilla is gonna pop up