Tokyo - The Japan Meteorological Agency on Monday began operating the world's first system to give pre-earthquake warnings to the public. The system is designed to detect earthquakes by sensing small seismic waves that precede big quakes and give warnings a few seconds before a major quake hits to regions expected to suffer damage.
Warnings would be aired through a public television station, NHK, and private stations as well as radio stations, the agency said.
The service is only available in Japan.
Only hours before the system was put in place, an earthquake measuring 4.9 on the Richter scale hit central Japan early Monday morning, injuring at least one person in Kanagawa prefecture, east of Tokyo.
No tsunami warning was issued, but train services in the area were suspended.
Department stores in Tokyo plan to set up a warning announcement system to inform their customers before a quake hits, while some firms already have similar systems in place to suspend trains or cranes at construction sites.
