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Japan jolted by pair of earthquakes

Dec 03, 2021 (NHK) - People in different parts of Japan were rattled by earthquakes on Friday morning. A magnitude 5.4 quake struck in the west at around 9:30. That followed one a few hours earlier with a similar magnitude near Mount Fuji.

The epicenter of the latest quake was on the coast of Wakayama Prefecture. It registered an intensity of up to five-minus on Japan's seismic scale of zero to seven in north of the prefecture.

Tremors were recorded in neighboring prefectures, including Mie, Hyogo Tokushima and Kagawa. Officials say there is no threat of tsunami.

Staff at NHK Wakayama bureau say they felt tremors lasting for about 5 seconds.

Around three hours earlier, people in Tokyo were jolted awake by a magnitude-4.8 quake in Yamanashi Prefecture, west of the capital. There was no threat of tsunami, and no change observed to activity at Mt. Fuji.

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