An earthquake of magnitude 4.8 shook Tokyo and its surroundings this Sunday, where it was felt strongly, without the tsunami warning being activated nor any damage resulting from it having been reported so far. The earthquake occurred at 8:59 local time (23:59 GMT on Saturday) and had its epicenter 80 kilometers deep under the seabed in front of Tokyo Bay, in the center of the country, according to the Meteorological Agency. of Japan (JMA). The tremor reached level 4 on the Japanese seismic scale (7 levels and focused on measuring surface agitation and potential damage) and similar levels in the neighboring prefectures of Chiba and Saitama.
Japan sits on the so-called Ring of Fire, one of the most active seismic zones in the world, and suffers earthquakes relatively frequently, so its infrastructure is specially designed to withstand tremors. The Government of Japan has estimated the economic losses caused by the devastating earthquake on the 1st at up to 2.6 trillion yen (17,591 million dollars), in its first calculation of the impact of damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure. The 7.6 magnitude earthquake with its epicenter in the Noto peninsula (central Japan) caused widespread damage to houses, roads, ports, power lines and sanitation networks in the area, in addition to leaving 236 dead and twenty missing. In its monthly economic report published the day before, the Executive warns about the “impact” that the natural disaster will have and that it adds to other factors of “uncertainty” on the national economy such as inflation, the conflict in the Middle East, the slowdown China or volatility in financial markets. The first official estimate of the economic cost of the earthquake for both the public and private sectors places this amount between the aforementioned figure and 1.1 trillion yen ($7,451 million), according to the government document. This amount is divided between the damages recorded in homes, between 400,000 and 900,000 million yen (between 2,708 and 6,092 million dollars); in non-residential buildings such as factories or offices, between 200,000 and 400,000 million yen (between 1,354 and 2,708 million dollars). EFE