Magnitude-6.1 Earthquake Strikes off Japan’s Kanto Coast

A magnitude-6.1 earthquake struck east of Japan’s Kanto region on November 6 at 19:39 Japan Standard Time, the Japan Meteorological Agency reported. The offshore quake produced maximum observed shaking of intensity 3 on the agency’s scale. Its preliminary record placed the focus about 10 km below the surface. JMA’s detailed bulletin, issued at 19:56, said slight changes in sea level could occur along the coast but there was “no concern about damage” from those changes. That assessment concerned sea-level effects; it was not a statement that the earthquake had caused no damage on land. The strongest recorded shaking, intensity 3, was reported in Miyagi, Fukushima and Ibaraki prefectures. Municipalities recording that level included Ishinomaki, Fukushima, Iwaki and Hitachi. Tokyo and Chiba recorded a maximum of intensity 2, according to the same detailed bulletin, which listed observations across eastern Japan. JMA describes intensity 3 as shaking felt by most people inside buildings, with some people walking also able to notice it. Dishes may rattle. The agency explains that its intensity readings generally come from ground-level or first-floor instruments and can differ within a city; shaking on upper floors can be stronger.