At 10:41 on the evening of Oct. 7, an earthquake estimated at a magnitude of 5.9 at its epicenter rattled the greater Kanto region. While damage was minimal, it was the strongest to hit Japan’s capital since the earthquake and aftershocks of the temblor that devastated the Tohoku region on March 11, 2011.
Kyodo News Agency reported that many late-night train passengers were stranded, with services on bullet trains and 16 local lines canceled or delayed. Normal service on some lines was not restored until 3 p.m. the next day.
On the JR Tokaido Line, several hundred passengers were forced to evacuate by escape ladder from a train after being stranded for more than two hours. East Japan Railway Co. alone estimated that around 368,000 passengers were affected.