Magnitude 5.1 quake shakes Japanese island chain

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  • A magnitude 5.1 quake shook Akusekijima, part of the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecture, early Monday morning. It registered a lower 5 on the Japanese seismic scale of zero to 7. The tremor followed two strong quakes that struck just six minutes apart on Sunday afternoon.  They measured upper 5, or magnitude 4.9 and 5.5. The Japan Meteorological Agency is warning that more strong tremors, possibly as intense as lower 6, could follow. Seismic activity has been intensifying in the region since June 2

A magnitude 5.1 quake shook Akusekijima, part of the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecture, early Monday morning. It registered a lower 5 on the Japanese seismic scale of zero to 7. The tremor followed two strong quakes that struck just six minutes apart on Sunday afternoon.

They measured upper 5, or magnitude 4.9 and 5.5. The Japan Meteorological Agency is warning that more strong tremors, possibly as intense as lower 6, could follow. Seismic activity has been intensifying in the region since June 21. The region experienced quake swarms in 2021 and 2023, but the latest is by far the most active. Authorities say that as of 4 a.m. on Monday, 1,578 quakes with an intensity of 1 or greater had been recorded in the current sequence.

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