Strong quake hits Tokyo

A strong earthquake has shaken the region around the Japanese capital Tokyo early Saturday. According to first estimates by Japanese authorities the quake had a magnitude of 5.9.

The U.S. Geological Survey gave the quake’s strength at magnitude 5.8. Its epicentre was located 81 kilometres north of Tokyo in Tochigi prefecture.

In Tokyo buildings were shaking and high-speed trains were stopped automatically, but there were no reports so far about casualties.

There has been no tsunami warning, the broadcaster NHK said. On March 11, a magnitude—9 quake and a following tsunami hit north—eastern Japan, killing more than 13,500 people. Hundreds of aftershocks have shaken the country in the last five weeks.