Osaka Quake May Be Linked to Nearby Fault: Govt Committee

June 19, 2018

Tokyo- The government's Earthquake Research Committee on Monday said the 6.1-magnitude earthquake in western Japan in the morning was a seismic activity that may be linked to a major nearby fault zone.

The committee indicated the possibility that the inland quake was related to at least one of the three major zones of Arima-Takatsuki, Ikoma and Uemachi. In the Arima-Takatsuki zone, an estimated 7.5-magnitude temblor occurred in 1596.

But the committee under the Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion stopped short of saying exactly which one the day's quake was linked to.

"We need to examine further, utilizing mainly the results of upcoming research," the committee said in a report drawn up at an emergency meeting in the afternoon.

The quake measured lower 6 in some areas in Osaka Prefecture on the Japanese seismic scale of 7, the highest reading logged in the prefecture since the Japan Meteorological Agency started monitoring quakes in 1923.

The committee also said there are no data indicating an increase in inland quakes as a precursor to a predicted huge temblor in the Nankai Trough off central to southwestern Japan. Jiji Press