Quake Near Fukushima in Japan Prompts Tsunami Alert

Quake Near Fukushima in Japan Prompts Tsunami Alert

A far-fields magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Fukushima, a prefecture in Japan, on Thursday, prompting a tsunami alert for the coastal regions. The earthquake struck about 137 miles off the coast of Fukushima at a depth of about 6 miles at around 5 p.m. local time, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

A powerful earthquake strikes off the coast of Japan

A powerful earthquake struck off the coast of Japan and the tremors were felt in many cities in the region. We will be discussing the earthquake and what caused the tremors to spread across the region. A powerful earthquake struck off the coast of Japan on the 5th of September. 

The tremors were felt across many cities in the region and were reported to be as powerful as 6.1. The tremors were reported in the city of Hachinohe, while the city of Tokyo reported the tremors to be as powerful as 5.5.

The 7.3 magnitude earthquake lasted more than two minutes

TOKYO: A powerful earthquake hit off the coast of Japan late on Wednesday night, leaving residents in the Fukushima region that was battered by a devastating quake and tsunami just over 11 years ago awaiting another possible tsunami in the early hours of Thursday morning.

The magnitude 7.3 earthquake hit at 11:34 p.m. and the shaking lasted more than two minutes. It was felt as far as Tokyo. The Japan Meteorological Agency issued tsunami advisories for Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures and residents were warned that waves of up to 1 meter could hit the coasts.

There were reports of power outages in more than two million homes in the Kanto region and numerous train lines had suspended operations.

Nuclear power plants were under inspection early Thursday. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said officials were still assessing the extent of the damage.

The intensity of the earthquake equaled that of the Kobe earthquake of 1995, which killed more than 6,000 people. The difference is that the epicenter of Wednesday’s earthquake was about 60 kilometers below the sea.

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After the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami in 2011, three reactors at the Daiichi plant melted down after tsunami waves breached the power station’s protective sea walls and inundated the facility.

TOKYO: Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan said on Thursday that the country’s Self-Defense Forces have been mobilized to assess the damage after the strong earthquake that hit off the northern coast of the country left about two million people without power.

“We are still trying to understand the situation and collect information,” he said at a news briefing. “The government will come together to save people’s lives and to make all-out efforts to provide safety and provide accurate information.”

A tsunami advisory remained in place for Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures. A small tsunami of 20 centimeters, about eight inches, hit Miyagi’s Ishinomaki Port at 12:30 a.m. on Thursday, according to NHK, the public broadcaster.

The tsunami warning center in the United States said there was no tsunami danger for the U.S. West Coast, British Columbia, and Alaska.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company, known as Tepco, said that of the households without power, close to 700,000 were in Tokyo. Japan Rail East, the main network, has suspended most of its train lines.

Tepco is inspecting nuclear power plants, including the Fukushima Daiichi plant that melted down 11 years ago when a powerful wall of water that followed a devastating earthquake knocked out the reactors’ cooling systems.

Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said that so far it had detected no abnormalities at power plants in Fukushima, Onagawa, and Tokai. But it added that it was conducting further inspections of the Fukushima plant.

Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, days after the area was devastated by an earthquake and a tsunami in 2011.Credit...Issei Kato/Reuters

An earthquake late Wednesday off Japan stirred fears of another powerful temblor along the same coast 11 years ago that set off a tsunami and the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.

On March 11, 2011, the Fukushima nuclear disaster began after an earthquake with a magnitude of nearly 9.0 struck off the east coast of Honshu, Japan’s main island. The tsunami it unleashed tore across northeastern Japan, killing more than 19,000 people. The tsunami, which reached more than 45 feet in height, flooded the emergency power generators in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Japan. That led to the meltdown of three of the plant’s six reactors.

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About 164,000 people were forced to leave the area, and cleanup efforts continue to this day. Last year, Japan decided to release some of the tons of accumulated wastewater that had been used to cool the damaged reactors. That decision was criticized by environmentalists, fishermen, and some of Japan’s neighbors who feared that the treated wastewater could still pose a threat.

Shortly before the 2011 disaster, government regulators approved a 10-year extension for the oldest of the plant’s reactors despite warnings about safety, including cracks in the emergency power generators that made them vulnerable to seawater. Critics said that approval highlighted an unhealthy relationship between the plant operators and regulators.

TOKYO: More than an hour after a powerful earthquake struck off the coast of Fukushima in northern Japan, a small tsunami, with waves measuring about eight inches, hit the Port of Ishinomaki in the Miyagi Prefecture early Thursday morning.

Warnings remained in place for both the Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures, and meteorological officials warned that subsequent waves could be higher. There have been no reports of damage or injuries as a result of the tsunami.

A mild aftershock with a magnitude of 5.6 hit off the Miyagi coast at just before 1 a.m. on Thursday morning. The epicenter was about 31 feet below the sea.

In Tokyo, NHK, the public broadcaster, reported that the Fire Department was trying to extract people stuck in elevators in several locations around the city.