A moderate earthquake of magnitude 5.9 shakes eastern Japan. No tsunami alert is issued

Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] Tokyo (AP) — A moderate earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.9 rattled eastern Japan, including the Tokyo area, early on Sunday, but there was no danger of a tsunami, the country’s meteorological agency said. According to the Japan-meteorological-agency" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="3275" data-entity-type="organization">Japan Meteorological Agency, the quake occurred in the southern Ibaraki prefecture, at a depth of 70 kilometers (42 miles). The United States Geological Survey recorded a preliminary magnitude of 5.8. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. The government set up a task force to assess the extent of possible damage, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on X. The temblor also set off emergency quake alerts on mobile phones and shook the Tokyo area, but NHK public television showed traffic on roads in nearby cities, including Mito and Saitama, seemingly normal.An underground water pipe ruptured in Tokyo’s eastern ward of Koto, with water pouring out onto the road, NHK footage showed. About 460 homes in Tokyo had power outages, according to TEPCO Power Grid. There were no reports of anything out of the ordinary from about a dozen nuclear power plants and other facilities that handle nuclear materials, the Nuclear Regulation Authority said. Last month, a magnitude 7.1 quake struck the Kumamoto area on Japan’s southernmost island of Kyushu, killing 38 people and injuring 364. It also destroyed more than 1,500 buildings and damaged nearly 20,000 others.