TOKYO (Reuters) – An earthquake shook buildings in the Japanese capital on Monday, but there was no danger of a tsunami and no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
The centre of the 5.5 magnitude earthquake was located under the sea on Japan’s northeast coast, not far from the site of a magnitude 9 quake in 2011 that touched off a massive tsunami and left nearly 20,000 dead. The tsunami also set off the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986. Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world’s most seismically active areas. Japan accounts for about 20 percent of the world’s earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.