Golf Course Where Trump and Abe Are Set to Play Rattled By Quake

(Bloomberg) -- A magnitude 5.1 earthquake hit near Tokyo just hours ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Japan, with the strongest shaking felt in a town very close to the golf course where he’s poised to tee off with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Sunday morning.

The temblor caused heavy shaking, though no damage was reported, and rattled buildings in central Tokyo. The strongest was felt in Chonan-machi, a town within several kilometers of Mobara Country Club where the two leaders are reportedly scheduled to play.

Trump is set to arrive in Japan on Saturday evening for an official visit that includes a trip to see sumo wrestling and the first meeting of a foreign leader with Emperor Naruhito, who acceded to the throne May 1.

The U.S. president and Abe are avid golfers and frequently play together during visits, both in Japan and at Mar-a-Lago. The two have bonded over the game ever since their first meeting, when Abe gifted Trump a golf club and received a shirt in return.

Japan is one of the most seismically active countries in the world, and regularly experiences quakes the size of Saturday’s temblor. Weather agency officials cautioned that further earthquakes of around the same scale could hit over the next week, national broadcaster NHK said. No tsunami warning was issued, although bullet trains were briefly halted by a power outage.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gearoid Reidy in Tokyo at greidy1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Gearoid Reidy at greidy1@bloomberg.net, Beth Thomas

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.