M6.3 Earthquake Hits Ishikawa Prefecture, Killing 1 Person

The Yomiuri Shimbun

18:48 JST, May 5, 2023

At least one person was killed in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, after a strong earthquake hit the Noto area of the prefecture on Friday afternoon, according to the city government.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake registered upper 6 in Suzu on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7. No tsunami warning was issued.

The earthquake, with an estimated magnitude of 6.3, occurred around 2:42 p.m. at a depth of about 10 kilometers, according to the agency.

Another earthquake registering 4 on the Japanese scale was observed in Suzu, 11 minutes after the magnitude-6.3 quake.

One person was trapped under a chest of drawers and suffered minor injuries. Another person was injured in a fall.

At least three buildings collapsed and two people were trapped under them in Suzu. They were later rescued and taken to the hospital.

The Ishikawa prefectural police said two people were unconscious in Suzu.

“We have received information about collapsed buildings in Suzu. We are still in the process of confirming the extent of human and material damage,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said at a hastily convened press conference.

The government has set up a response office in the crisis management center of the Prime Minister’s Office. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida instructed the relevant ministries and agencies to immediately assess the damage, save lives and rescue victims, and provide appropriate information to the public.

According to the Secretariat of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, no abnormalities have been confirmed at the Shika Nuclear Power Plant in the prefecture or at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant in nearby Niigata Prefecture.