A strong earthquake registered by the JMA as M5.9 hit Osaka, Japan at 22:58 UTC on June 17, 2018 (07:58 JST, June 18), killing at least 4 people and injuring 370. The quake hit at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). The USGS registered it as M5.3 at a depth of 15.4 km (9.5 miles).
The epicenter was located 1.9 km (1.2 miles) SSW of Takatsuki (population 354 468), 3.9 km (2.4 miles) ENE of Ibaraki (population 273 992), 4.6 km (2.8 miles) WNW of Hirakata (population 406 331), 7.7 km (4.8 miles) NNW of Neyagawa (population 238 549) and 18.2 km (11.3 miles) NNE of Osaka (population 2 592 413).
The quake hit at the morning rush hour, killing at least 4 people and injuring 370. A 9-year-old girl was killed after damaged wall trapped her in a swimming pool facility in Takatsuki city. An 85-year-old man died when a damaged block wall trapped him in Yodagawa-ku. The third victim was an 80-year-old man who was crushed by a falling bookshelf at his home in Ibaraki.
Authorities said 700 people fled to evacuation centers.
Several roads suffered severe damage and water pipes burst. Local media said firefighters have put out several house fires in northern Osaka.
Some 170 000 homes and businesses suffered temporary power outages, resolved within hours after the quake.
Osaka prefectural office said water and gas supply has been cut to 108 000 homes.
Thousands of passengers were stranded when local trains and bullet trains suspended operations.
According to NHK, officials in neighboring Fukui Prefecture say they've checked all the 15 nuclear reactors there, both online and offline, and no problems have been found.
Several key industrial areas near Osaka were affected, with companies like Panasonic and Daihatsu saying they were suspending production at their affected sites.
Update
June 19
334 buildings were damaged and 1 809 people displaced in shelters in the prefectures of Kyoto, Osaka and Hyogo.
A M4.6 aftershock has been registered in the same area at 15:31 UTC on June 18 at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles).
Featured image: Damage after M5.9 earthquake hits Japan on June 17, 2018 (UTC).
