Strong Quake Jolts Southwestern Japan Islands

Tokyo, May 20 (Jiji Press)--A strong earthquake struck southwestern Japan on Wednesday, measuring upper 5, the fourth-highest level on the Japanese seismic intensity scale, on an island in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

The temblor with an estimated magnitude of 5.9 occurred at a depth of about 50 kilometers off the main island of the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa at around 11:46 a.m., the agency said. No tsunami occurred from the quake.

The seismic intensity of upper 5 was recorded in the island town of Yoron and lower 5 in the town of China on Okinoerabu Island. Both islands are among the Amami Islands in Kagoshima. No injuries had been reported in the two towns as of 4 p.m.

It was the strongest temblor in Yoron since the agency started monitoring seismic activity in the town in March 2007.

In Yoron, about 20 ceiling panels fell at a gymnasium while a piece of ceiling over staircases dropped at a local high school.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]