Earthquake of Magnitude 5.2 Jolts Japan's Tokyo and Neighboring Areas, No Tsunami Threats

Tokyo – An earthquake of magnitude 5.2 struck Japan's capital Tokyo and its neighbouring areas on Friday. According to Japan News, tremours were felt at around 5:43 am (local time). quake rocked Japanese capital after a 4.6-magnitude quake jolted Japan's Chiba prefecture on Thursday. prefecture is located in east of Tokyo. 

Meanwhile, Japan Meteorological Agency said that Friday quake did not raise a threat of Tsunami in region. According to wear agency, four quakes were noticed all across prefecture on Thursday. se tremors were also felt in many parts of Tokyo. 

Why do Japan have so many earthquakes? 

Japan is no stranger to earthquakes. In fact, it is among most seismically active countries in world. With this in mind, it is interesting to note that Asian nation is also birthplace of seismology or study of earthquakes. country has regularly garnered international helines for earthquake-related damage, most prominently March 2011 triple disaster of a 9.0-magnitude earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown. incident led to worst nuclear disaster since Chornobyl in 1986, according to reports by Washington Post. 

One of major reasons why country faces frequent earthquakes is fact that Japan sits on top of four major tectonic plates, making it one of places in world most likely to experience tectonic activity. Japan and its surrounding area account for 18 per cent of earthquakes in world because of active tectonics. According to Washington Post, country has about 1,500 earthquakes every year. Not only this, some kind of seismic activity in region is recorded about once every five minutes. Most of earthquake activities in world are fields along horseshoe-shaped zone — often referred to as “Ring of Fire” — along rim of Pacific Ocean, with more than 400 active volcanoes. This is a geologically active area where earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes are extremely common. According to US Geological Survey and International Tsunami Information Center, around 80% of world’s largest earthquakes and tsunamis occur in this particular region.