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This Saturday an earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale was recorded off the coast of Fukushima, in eastern Japan.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, “Although there may be small changes in sea level in coastal regions, this earthquake has caused no damage in Japan“. The epicenter was registered about 55 kilometers deep, off the coast of Fukushima, according to the same agency. Initially, the magnitude was revealed to have been 7.1, but the number was later updated to 7.3.
At least 30 people were injured in Fukushima and Miyagi, on the northeast coast, the Kyodo news agency said. In both Fukushima and Miyagi, the earthquake reached level six on the Japanese scale, the maximum of which is seven.
Other parts of the east coast and central Japan were also severely affected by the earthquake, including the capital Tokyo, where it reached level four on the Japanese scale, the EFE news agency said.
According to information provided by various media, there is no tsunami risk alert. The US Tsunami Warning System website also does not record any alerts to this effect.
The earthquake will have been felt at 2:07 p.m. (mainland Portugal time; 11:07 p.m. local time), according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS, in the original acronym), which monitors seismic activity around the world. However, around 12 aftershocks have been felt, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), the electricity distributor in Tokyo and other regions, reported that more than 830,000 homes have experienced power outages, but electricity is already being restored.
The images that are being published on social networks show the force of the shock.
NHK reported that the shaking lasted about 30 seconds. (I felt longer).
Images from a television news station in Sendai city, Miyagi prefecture. # Seismic intensity 6+ #Earthquake pic.twitter.com/POo57IDXIQ
– Kurumi Mori (@rumireports) February 13, 2021
Damage inside an izakaya bar in Fukushima city.
Reports say aftershocks are being felt in some areas. I have not felt more in Tokyo. pic.twitter.com/9zy9a10ECO
– Kurumi Mori (@rumireports) February 13, 2021
The Japanese government has already created a task force to gather information and assess the situation, according to the state network NHK. The plant’s managing body, TEPCO, has already indicated, after an assessment, that no problems were detected at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. There is also no information on irregularities in other exchanges located in the affected areas.
Almost 10 years ago, on March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake followed by a tsunami in Sendai, about 140 km from Fukushima, caused 19,000 deaths and disappearances. The tsunami hit the nuclear power plant’s facilities, power was cut off and the nuclear fuel cooling systems were shut down, causing fuel in the core of three of its reactors to melt. The various hydrogen explosions destroyed parts of the buildings.
In April 2019, TEPCO began removing nuclear fuel from one of the reactor’s cooling pools, which exploded in the 2011 disaster. However, this Saturday’s impact should not have caused further damage to the facilities.
Fukushima: extraction of nuclear fuel from one of the reactors began
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