A moderate earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.9 rattled eastern Japan, including the Tokyo area, early on Sunday (August 23, 2026), injuring at least five people, officials said. There was no danger of a tsunami.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the quake occurred in the southern Ibaraki prefecture, at a depth of 70 kilometres, an area of Japan prone to frequent quakes. The United States Geological Survey recorded a preliminary magnitude of 5.8.

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said at least five people were injured in Ibaraki, Chiba and Saitama prefectures northeast of Tokyo. The agency said more people were injured and details are being investigated, the FDMA said.

The quake caused delays to express trains serving Tokyo and Narita Airport and other local trains serving northeastern regions, but Shinkansen bullet trains were running normally, their operator East Japan Railway Company said.

The government set up a task force to assess the extent of possible damage, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on X.

The temblor set off emergency quake alerts on mobile phones and also significantly shook Tokyo. 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. The earthquake caused blackouts to about 460 homes in Tokyo, but power was restored by later Sunday morning, according to TEPCO Power Grid.

There were no reports of anomalies 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.

An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 shook Kumamoto on Japan’s southern main island of Kyushu late on Tuesday (July 28, 2026) afternoon and a tsunami advisory was issued, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.

The quake occurred at the depth of 10 km (6 miles) below the sea surface, JMA said.

No damage or injuries were immediately reported after the 4:29 p.m. quake.

The quake occurred in the western region of Kumamoto, about 900 km (540 miles) southwest of Tokyo.

The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no risk of a tsunami beyond local coasts.

A magnitude-6.1 earthquake rattled northeastern Japan on early Sunday (June 28, 2026), according to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the latest in a series of major temblors hitting the region.

No tsunami warning was issued, and there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. But the recent spate of quakes coming during typhoon season has set off worries about mudslides.

Sunday’s quake struck off the coast of Iwate Prefecture at 7:25 a.m. local time, with a depth of about 40 kilometres (25 miles), and shook Aomori Prefecture and other nearby regions.

A coastline is hit by high waves as a typhoon approaches Futtsu City, Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo, on June 27, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
AP

Japan is prone to quakes and tsunamis. A series of quakes has hit lately, including a 7.2 magnitude quake that struck on Thursday (June 25, 2026) in the area close to Sunday’s quake. That magnitude was revised upward from a preliminary estimate.

The agency has warned other quakes may follow. A magnitude 5.6 earthquake shook Yamanashi Prefecture and nearby areas, which are near Mount Fuji and west of Tokyo, on Friday (June 26, 2026).

No tsunami warning was ‌issued after an earthquake of magnitude ​6.9 struck the ⁠east coast of Japan’s northeastern Tohoku region, the Japan Meteorological Agency said on ‌Thursday (June 25, 2026).

The epicentre of the quake was off the ‌coast of Iwate prefecture, at ‌the ⁠depth of about 50 ⁠km, and no damage from tsunami is feared except for slight sea level ​changes, the agency ‌said.

The earthquake hit Aomori prefecture with an intensity of 6-plus, a situation where typically “it is ‌impossible to remain standing or to ​move without crawling”, on the Japanese scale ⁠of 0-7, it said.

Tohoku Electric Power said no irregularities were found at ‌its Onagawa and idled Higashidori nuclear power plants following the earthquake.

East Japan Railway said it has halted some trains, including Tohoku Shinkansen high-speed rail ‌services, after the quake.

Earthquakes are common in ​Japan, one of the world’s most seismically active areas. ⁠Japan accounts for about one-fifth of the ⁠world’s earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.

​A ‌magnitude 6.4 ​earthquake ⁠struck near the east ‌coast ‌of ‌Honshu, ⁠Japan, ⁠on Friday (May 15, 2026), the ​German Research ‌Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) ‌said.

The quake hit at 8:22 p.m. (1122 GMT) in Pacific waters off northern Miyagi prefecture, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency, but there were no immediate reports of any damage.

The quake’s ​depth was ⁠10 kilometres (6.21 ‌miles) below the earth’s ‌surface, GFZ ​said.

The tremor comes after a powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit near the northern region in April, which prompted a tsunami alert at the time.

A preliminary magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck northern Japan early on Monday (April 27, 2026), the U.S. Geological Survey reported, but there were no immediate reports of fatalities or damage,

The quake struck 18 kilometres (11 miles) west of the small town of Sarabetsu in Hokkaido at a depth of 81 kilometres (50 miles), according to the USGS.

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An ​earthquake ⁠with a preliminary magnitude of 7.4 struck off ‌the north-eastern coast of Japan ‌on Monday ‌(April 20, 2026) afternoon, ⁠the Japan ⁠Meteorological Agency said.

It warned of a tsunami ​as high ‌as 3 metres (9.84 ft) in Iwate, Aomori, and Hokkaido ‌prefectures. The tremor ​had an epicentre in the ⁠Pacific Ocean and was 10km ‌deep, according to the JMA.

A strong earthquake hit western Japan on Tuesday (January 6, 2026) but there was no danger of a tsunami, officials said.

The quake, with a preliminary magnitude of 6.2, occurred in Shimane prefecture in northwestern Japan, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

The prefectural capital of Matsue and nearby cities, including some in the neighboring Tottori prefecture, were among the most strongly shaken.

The epicenter was located at a depth of about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) inland, the agency said, adding there was no risk of a tsunami.

No injuries or damage were reported from the quake.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority said no abnormalities were found at the Shimame nuclear power plant and a related facility in the region.

Japan is on the so-called Pacific ring of fire, which is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone areas.