A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck the Japanese city of Osaka and surrounding areas on Monday morning, killing three people and injuring more than 200 others. The quake hit just before 8am local time during the morning rush hour, causing walls and furniture to collapse.
The victims were identified as Rina Miyake, a nine-year-old girl, and Minoru Yasui, an 80-year-old man, who died when they were hit by collapsing walls. Motochika Goto, 85, was crushed by a falling bookcase at his home. The earthquake did not trigger a tsunami.
More than 170,000 households lost power in Osaka prefecture and neighbouring Hyogo prefecture, where a 1995 earthquake killed over 6,400 people in Kobe. Despite its relatively low magnitude, the quake caused violent shaking due to its shallow depth of 13km, registering a lower-6 on Japan's seismic intensity scale of 0 to 7.
Officials warned of possible strong aftershocks. Toshiyuki Matsumori of the country's meteorological agency said, 'There are fears that the risk of house collapses and landslides has increased in the areas shaken strongly.' Experts suggested the earthquake could have involved a fault that had not moved for over 10,000 years.
Transport was disrupted, with several rail services suspended, including the bullet train. The car manufacturer Daihatsu halted operations at its plants in Osaka and Kyoto, while Sharp reported its factories were operating normally. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the government's priority was to rescue anyone trapped inside buildings.
Monday's earthquake was the third measuring higher than magnitude-4 to strike Japan in recent days. The country is one of the world's most seismically active, with a magnitude-9 earthquake in March 2011 triggering a tsunami that killed over 18,000 people.
