Earthquake shakes buildings in Tokyo

An earthquake hit the northeastern city of Sendai and surrounding areas of Miyagi Prefecture on Tuesday, causing some damage and possibly dozens of injuries, officials said. After the hit which had a magnitude of 7.2 on the Richter scale. Buildings even swayed in Tokyo, 300 kilometers to the south, and a house in Saitama Prefecture collapsed in the 11:46 a.m. temblor.

The quake's focus was off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture and centered at a depth of about 42 kilometers below seabed, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. The temblor registered lower 6 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in southern parts of Miyagi Prefecture. An intensity of 4 was recorded in Tokyo's 23 wards.

Tsunami warnings were issued for coastal areas. They were soon lifted as there was no discernible rise in the tides or high waves.

According to CNN, Many of the injured were at a public pool crowded with more than 200 people, some children on summer vacation. The force of the quake sent pieces of tile, glass and other debris showering over the bathers, cutting some of them.

National broadcaster NHK said there were preliminary reports of 59 people injured. Officials were still tallying figures, but police in Miyagi, which suffered the brunt of the quake, could only confirm 26 injuries, while neighboring Fukushima prefecture had four.

"The horizontal shaking was very strong, so much so that I almost couldn't remain standing," said Masami Oshima, an official with Miyagi state. Sendai is Miyagi capital city.