The earthquake occurred in the same region that was devastated by a magnitude 9 earthquake that triggered a tsunami and nuclear disaster.
The whole building was shaking
The quake was felt very strongly across a wide swath of eastern, central, and western Japan.
“The whole building was shaking and things were falling off the shelves,” Miho Iida, a 26-year-old resident of a single-family home in Kawaguchi, about 20 kilometers north of Tokyo.
Iida assured that the tremor reminded him of the devastating earthquake of March 11, 2011.
Videos of Wednesday night captured by security cameras circulate on the network in which strong shakes of urban furniture, subway cars, and offices are observed.
Several people were hospitalized in the city of Soma (Fukushima prefecture) and at the moment the authorities have not offered figures of injuries.
A high-speed train (Shinkansen) derailed between Fukushima and Shiroishizao stations with no injuries reported.
In addition, several highway sections have been closed in the east of the country.