群馬・埼玉で震度5弱の地震、津波の心配なし

Welcome to Japanese Daily News. I'm Maya. Today is June sixteenth. On the evening of the sixteenth, a strong earthquake hit the Kanto region near Tokyo. Two prefectures felt a level five-weak quake, but there was no danger of a tsunami. Let's listen.

Let's break it down.

On the evening of the sixteenth, there was a big earthquake in the Kanto region.

It means earthquake. The first character means earth or ground, the second means to shake — the ground shaking.

At around seven forty-six in the evening, an earthquake occurred with its epicenter in southern Ibaraki Prefecture.

It means the epicenter — the underground point where an earthquake begins. The first character is quake, the second is source.

In Gunma and Saitama Prefectures, they measured a maximum of level five-weak.

It means seismic intensity — how strongly the ground shakes at a place, on Japan's zero-to-seven scale. Don't confuse it with magnitude, which is the size of the quake itself.

With the strong shaking, in some homes things fell off the shelves.

It means shaking or a tremor. It's the noun from the verb to sway, to shake — the motion you actually feel.

There is no danger of a tsunami from this earthquake.

It means tsunami — a giant sea wave that an undersea quake can cause. It's already an English word, borrowed straight from Japanese.

So far, no serious injuries or damage to buildings have been reported.

It means damage or harm — the loss caused by a disaster or accident. You'll hear it constantly in news about storms, floods, and quakes.

The Meteorological Agency is urging people to watch out for strong earthquakes for about a week.

It means to call on people, to urge — to publicly ask everyone to do something. It literally combines to call and to hang, like sending a call out to the crowd.

People in areas with strong shaking, please take care to stay safe.

It means safety, or safe. The opposite is danger. It works as a noun and as a describing word — a safe place, or simply safety.

Let's listen to the full story one more time.

Quiz time. Three questions.

On the evening of which day was the earthquake? The sixteenth.

What was the maximum seismic intensity measured in Gunma and Saitama? Level five-weak.

Was there any danger of a tsunami from this quake? No, there was none.

That's today's Japanese Daily News. Full transcript with furigana at podcast.jpnotes.dev. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. See you tomorrow.