BEVERLY HILLS, November 21, (THEWILL) – Japan Meteorological Agency has issued tsunami warning for much of the nation’s northern Pacific coast, following an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.3 that hit northern Japan on Tuesday.
Quoting the agency, Reuters said the epicentre of the earthquake, which was felt in Tokyo, was off the coast of Fukushima prefecture at a depth of about 10 km (6 miles).
There were no immediate reports of damage or injury following the earthquake which struck at 5:59 a.m. (3.59 p.m. ET).
Tokyo Electric Power Co was checking its nuclear plants in Fukushima for damage, public broadcaster NHK said. Tohoku Electric Power Co said there was no damage to its Onagawa nuclear plant.
Television footage showed ships moving out to sea from Fukushima harbors, as the meteorological agency warned of a tsunami of 3 meters (10 feet) for Fukushima, where Tepco’s Daiichi nuclear plant was devastated in a March 2011 quake and tsunami.
Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world’s most seismically active areas. Japan accounts for about 20 percent of the world’s earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.
The March 11, 2011, quake was magnitude 9, the strongest quake in Japan on record. The massive tsunami it triggered caused world’s worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl a quarter of a century earlier.
The U.S. Geological Survey initially put Tuesday’s quake at a magnitude of 7.3 but downgraded it to 6.9.
All nuclear plants on the coast threatened by the tsunami are shut down in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.
Only two reactors are operating in Japan, both in the southwest of the country. Even when in shutdown nuclear plants need cooling systems operating to keep spent fuel cool.
Story by Oputah David
