Another Strong Quake Hits off Tokara Islands

   Kagoshima/Tokyo, July 5 (Jiji Press)--An earthquake measuring up to upper 5, fourth highest on the Japanese seismic intensity scale, struck Saturday morning off Akusekijima, one of the Tokara Islands in the southwestern Japan prefecture of Kagoshima, following a series of tremors that have continued in the region since late last month.
   According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the earthquake that occurred at 6:29 a.m. Saturday had a magnitude of 5.4, with an epicenter located southwest of Akusekijima in the village of Toshima, Kagoshima, at a depth of about 19 kilometers. The epicenter was almost the same as that of the 5.1 magnitude earthquake measuring up to lower 5 that occurred in the same area around dawn on Wednesday.
   This morning's quake "occurred amid a series of seismic activities, so there is nothing unusual," Ayataka Ebita, director of the agency's Earthquake and Tsunami Observation Division, told a press conference in Tokyo on Saturday, calling on people in the region to beware of possible earthquakes with intensities of around lower 6.
   As of Saturday morning, the Tokara Islands had been hit by more than 1,300 quakes strong enough to be felt since June 21. Tremors measuring 4 also hit the area on Saturday.
   As to whether the rumors on social media that a major earthquake would occur in Japan on Saturday came true, Ebita said: "It's a complete coincidence. With the current scientific knowledge, it is difficult to predict an earthquake by specifying the date, time, location and scale."

(2025/07/05-13:35)