A strong earthquake that measured 5.2 on the Richter Scale rocked the northern Japanese Island of Kokkaido at about at about 7:45 local time today. The quake was felt as far away as Tokyo, and there were reports of damage in other parts of Japan. Every increase of one integer on the scale represents a tenfold increase in strength, thus a quake measuring 5.2 is ten times stronger than one of 4.2. In the past 35 years there have been two major earthquakes in Hokkaido. Today's quakes caused little damage because they occurred far below the earth's surface. The last quake to cause great destruction in Hokkaido occurred in 1968. It measure 7.9 and claimed 52 lives.
A strong earthquake that measured 5.2 on the Richter Scale rocked the northern Japanese Island of Kokkaido at about at about 7:45 local time today. The quake was felt as far away as Tokyo, and there were reports of damage in other parts of Japan. Every increase of one integer on the scale represents a tenfold increase in strength, thus a quake measuring 5.2 is ten times stronger than one of 4.2. Today's quakes caused little damage because they occurred far below the earth's surface. The last quake to cause great destruction in Hokkaido occurred in 1968. It measure 7.9 and claimed 52 lives.