A strong earthquake jolted the Chugoku, Shikoku and Kyushu regions at around 6:50 p.m. June 25, registering a strong 5 on the Japanese scale of 7 in Shimane Prefecture.
The quake’s intensity was a strong 5 on the Japanese scale of 7 in Masuda, Shimane Prefecture, and a weak 5 in Tsuwano, Shimane Prefecture. The Osaka Meteorological Observatory said the quake registered 5.9 on the Richter scale. The epicenter was in northern Yamaguchi Prefecture with the focus about 20 km underground.
A JR West train hit a rock and derailed in Asa Kita Ward, Hiroshima, but no passengers were injured. Operations of nuclear power plants in Kashima, Shimane Prefecture, and Ikata, Ehime Prefecture, were not affected by the quake.
“At first, there was strong vertical shaking, followed by horizontal shaking, which toppled a shelf,” a convenience store worker in Masuda said.
“Out of the blue there was a roar and strong horizontal shaking,” said Tsutomu Otani, 45, chief priest at Senkoji Temple in Masuda. “But we’ve had no damage and electricity has not been disrupted either.”
