Earthquake of magnitude 6.0 rocks Japan

TOKYO: An earthquake of magnitude 6.0 shook Japan on late Saturday night, a statement by the National Center for Seismology (NCS) said. As per the NCS, the earthquake occurred at a depth of 50km.

In a post on X, the NCS said, “EQ of M: 6.0, On: 04/10/2025 20:51:09 IST, Lat: 37.45 N, Long: 141.52 E, Depth: 50 Km, Location: Near East Coast of Honshu, Japan.”

EQ of M: 6.0, On: 04/10/2025 20:51:09 IST, Lat: 37.45 N, Long: 141.52 E, Depth: 50 Km, Location: Near East Coast of Honshu, Japan.
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— National Center for Seismology (@NCS_Earthquake) October 4, 2025

The whole country is in a very active seismic area, and they have the densest seismic network in the world, so they are able to record many earthquakes.

Japan is situated in a volcanic zone on the Pacific Ring of Fire. Frequent low-intensity tremors and occasional volcanic activity are felt throughout the islands. Destructive earthquakes, often resulting in tsunamis, occur several times per century. The most recent major quakes include the 2024 Noto earthquake, the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, the 2004 Chuetsu earthquake, and the Great Hanshin earthquake of 1995.

In Japan, the Shindo scale is commonly used to measure earthquakes by seismic intensity instead of magnitude. This is similar to the Modified Mercalli intensity scale used in the United States, the Liedu scale used in China or the European Macroseismic Scale (EMS), meaning that the scale measures the intensity of an earthquake at a given location instead of measuring an energy source an earthquake releases at its epicentre (its magnitude) as the Richter scale does.

Unlike other seismic intensity scales, which normally have twelve levels of intensity, shindo (seismic intensity, literally “degree of shaking”) as used by the Japan Meteorological Agency is a unit with ten levels, ranging from shindo zero, a very light tremor, to shindo seven, a severe earthquake.

Intermediate levels for earthquakes with shindo five and six are “weak” or “strong”, according to the degree of destruction they cause. Earthquakes measured at shindo four and lower are considered to be weak to mild, while those measured at five and above can cause heavy damage to furniture, wall tiles, wooden houses, reinforced concrete buildings, roads, gas and water pipes. (ANI)