Earthquake shakes Motegi ahead of its WTCC debut
An earthquake, reportedly 5.3 at its epicentre in Japan’s capital Tokyo 150km away, shook the Motegi circuit at 5:50am local time on Saturday ahead of the practice and qualifying day of the World Touring Car Championship, which is visiting the Honda-built circuit for the first time this weekend.
With Tropical Storm Etau only just having passed through the region, but with better weather expected throughout much of the rest of the weekend, the start of the WTCC’s Asian tour had been hit by another phenomenon with just hours before the first official free practice session takes place at 9:30 JST.
Drivers reported being woken up, or already being awake through jet lag, and experiencing the quake at their accommodation for the weekend.
Waooo been wake up by my first earthquake…strange feeling :-/ pic.twitter.com/gZ1eAPBWTN
— Nicolas Lapierre (@Nico_Lapierre) September 11, 2015
Lying awake with jet lag at 05;52 in Japan and baby earthquake just happened!
— Rob Huff (@Huffsport) September 11, 2015
Wow first earthquake I've ever been in. It's all going on here. Typhoons and earthquakes. Motegi is lucky as the typhoon has gone.Others no😔
— Tom Chilton (@TomChilton_) September 11, 2015
Initial reports are that buildings were just shaken, and no Tsunami event is expected, and it’s unlikely to have an impact on today’s running.
