Japan hit by 5.9 magnitude earthquake as tremors destroy homes in hard-hit region still reeling from devastating quake
EARTHQUAKES have struck a Japanese region for the second time this year, leaving houses destroyed and residents injured.
A magnitude-5.9 temblor hit the northern top of the Noto Peninsula, known for its beautiful coastal scenery, on Monday morning.
The quake was followed minutes later by a 4.9-magnitude tremor, and then several smaller quakes within the next two hours, said the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Japan's north-central region of Ishikawa was still recovering from a powerful quake on January 1 when shakes began again today.
Five houses damaged in the January 1 quake collapsed this morning in Wajiima city, as a quake alarm in the town of Tsubata - about 60 miles southwest of the epicentre - surprised a resident in her 60s.
The woman fell from her bed and suffered an injury which was not life-threatening, according to prefectural officials.
Residents were seen exiting their homes and temporary shelters, where they have been recovering from January's quake, to check the harm caused by the fresh wave of tremors.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi urged them to be wary of potential falling rocks and landslides.
He said: "Many people who have been living at evacuation centres must have been been frightened."
Nearby power plant the Shika plant on the Noto Peninsula also suffered minor damage, said The Nuclear Regulation Authority.
Today's quakes are believed to be aftershocks of January's magnitude-7.6 earthquake, said JMA seismology and tsunami official Satoshi Harada.
The official urged people to be cautious, particularly near buildings that were earlier damaged.
Seismic activity has since slightly subsided and Shinkansen super-express trains and other train services - which were temporarily suspended for safety checks - have mostly resumed.
An inn operator in Wajima, one of the hardest-hit areas on New Year's Day, told Japanese public broadcaster NHK of how he immediately ducked under a desk when the first quake struck this morning.
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