Japan earthquake hits US, California, Mexico, Mexico City, Texas, Florida
Japan earthquake hit the US, Canada, Mexico and several other countries on Saturday, with multiple aftershocks across the country, including in the US and Mexico.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) reported the quake struck at 3:35pm local time (12:35am GMT).
It was followed by another 7.2 magnitude earthquake that hit Mexico City at 12:45am GMT, and by a 7.9 magnitude earthquake in Los Angeles, California at 1:30am GMT.
The Philippines also experienced a 6.7 magnitude earthquake.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said that the Philippines suffered its third earthquake in less than a week, after it was hit by an aftershock on Monday.
According to the USGS, the country was hit between 6:42pm and 6:49pm on Saturday.
The earthquake measured 5.6 on the Richter scale.
It hit a coastal area near the city of Puerto Ordaz, in the Philippines’ southernmost province, Bicol.
It was felt in a radius of more than 1,500km.
The epicentre was near the northern tip of Puerto Barrios, on the northern coast of the Philippines, in a region known as Bicol province, the US Geological Services said.
It also hit Puerto Barrio, the capital of the southern Philippine island of Palawan, at a depth of 1,600km.
It damaged about 12,000 homes and buildings, the bureau said.
USGS has also said that another 8.3 magnitude earthquake struck in Chile, and was followed soon after by a 6 magnitude quake in Argentina.
A 5.5 magnitude earthquake hit eastern Japan on Saturday at 9:20am local time, and a 6th earthquake was reported in Japan at 8:40am local, the Japanese Meteorological Agency said.
According the USNSIDC, the Japan Meteorological and Nuclear Safety Agency (JNNSA) reported that the earthquake struck at 5:25am (10:25pm GMT) in Yokohama Prefecture, near Tokyo.
A 7.5-magnitude earthquake was also felt in the capital, Tokyo, at 1.30am local (4:30pm GMT), and a magnitude 6.3 quake was felt near Tokyo at 1pm local (5pm GMT).
An earthquake of magnitude 6 struck in China’s eastern region of Xinjiang on Saturday morning, according to the China Earthquake Information Centre (CWEIC).
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake was felt across parts of the province of Jiangsu, and the region’s capital, Tianjin, at 6:45pm local.
An 8.0 magnitude earthquake was recorded at a location in the Gansu province of Heilongjiang, according the CWEIC.
The CWEC said the quake was triggered by an underground fault in a small valley on the western side of the river, which was not the fault that was originally believed to have triggered the quake.
The quake was initially felt as far away as the western Chinese city of Xi’an, in Henan province, which borders the Gobi Desert.
It caused power cuts and road closures, and sent many cars into panic mode, some of them heading for their homes.
“The situation is under control, but we still have to monitor the situation closely, and continue to monitor its progress,” a CWEICT spokesperson said.
A magnitude 6 quake hit central Russia on Saturday night, with at least four aftershifts measuring 7.6.
The area was still under a partial aftershock.
The latest aftershock was felt as the city’s southern suburbs of Volgograd and Voronezh, which were hit by a magnitude 7 quake earlier in the day, were still under the effects of the earlier quake, according TOI.
The country’s largest bank has issued a precautionary warning for its customers in the affected areas.
The Bank of China (BoC) has asked people to stay away from the affected banks in the provinces of Tatarstan and Kaluga, the Bank’s deputy chief executive, Wang Jiefu, said on Saturday evening.
“All the banks in these regions are under a full-blown emergency, and we ask people to avoid using them,” Wang told reporters.
The BoC has urged its customers to take a day off work, and to refrain from social activities in the cities where they are located.
