Tokyo [Japan], March 20 (ANI): A strong quake“>earthquake of 7.2-magnitude on the Richter Scale struck off the coast of northeastern Japan at a depth of 60 km on Saturday evening.
Tsunami waves of up to 1 meter have reached the Miyagi Prefecture caost shortly after 6:30 pm, according to NHK.
Two hundred homes in Kurihara, Miyagi Prefecture were without power, the public broadcaster said. The quake caused the Tohoku Shinkansen to suspend services.
In Miyagi Prefecture, the quake measured up to a strong 5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale to 7.
Municipal fire officials in Miyagi reported no damage from the quake as of 6:30 p.m., but were continuing to gather information, NHK said.
“Suddenly, the large tremor continued for about 20 seconds,” the public broadcaster quoted a disaster official in Iwanuma, Miyagi Prefecture, as saying. “The shaking caused things on a desk to move, but they didn’t fall, and I felt the shaking was smaller than last month’s quake“>earthquake.”
Japan lies along what is called the Pacific Ring of Fire, an imaginary horseshoe-shaped zone that follows the rim of the Pacific Ocean, where many volcanic eruptions and quake“>earthquakes occur.
The quake comes a little over a month after a 7.3 temblor struck off neighbouring Fukushima Prefecture. The Febuary 14 quake caused widespread power outages and left dozens injured. (ANI)
After quake, Japanese govt warns of tsunami in coastal areas
Following a strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.9 that shook eastern and northeastern Japan on Saturday, the Japanese government warned that a tsunami of up to 1 metre could hit coastal areas of Miyagi Prefecture.
According to Kyodo News, the earthquake occurred at 6:09 p.m. about 59 kilometers below the surface off the coast of Miyagi, and the agency called off the tsunami warning at 7:30 p.m, the Japan Meteorological agency stated.
Two injuries have been reported in Miyagi Prefecture with no structural damage yet, according to a local fire department.
The strength and the depth of the temblor were revised downward from the initially reported magnitude 7.2 and 60 km, respectively.
The agency official said at a press conference that no significant change in the sea level caused by the quake was observed but warned that quakes of a similar size could occur over the next week or so.
Its focus, about 20 km off the Ojika Peninsula in Miyagi, was relatively close to that of the magnitude of 7.3 temblors in mid-February which rocked Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures and injured over 150 people, he added.
The earthquake struck just over a week after northeastern Japan marked the 10th anniversary of the devastating quake and tsunami which triggered the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
No abnormalities were found at nuclear plants in eastern and northeastern Japan, according to their operators, while JR East said it temporarily suspended the operation of Shinkansen bullet train services in the region, Kyodo News reported.
There have also been evacuation orders issued to some 11,000 residents in coastal areas in Miyagi which were lifted later, according to the prefectural government.
Shinji Toda, professor of geophysics at Tohoku University, said the latest earthquake could have caused a large tsunami if its focus had been shallow.
Bullet train service partially suspended in Tokyo following earthquake
Following a strong earthquake of 7.2 magnitude on the Richter Scale, the services on the Tohoku Shinkansen bullet train line have been partially suspended in Tokyo, said East Japan Railway Company on Saturday.
The earthquake struck off the coast of northeastern Japan at a depth of 60 km on Saturday evening.
East Japan Railway Company said the affected areas are between Omiya and Hachinohe stations, also Tokyo and Morioka stations, NHK World reported.
The Tohoku Shinkansen bullet train line is expected to resume at 10 pm (local time), the company said.
There have been no reports of abnormalities at nuclear power plants in areas affected by the quake, said Japan‘s nuclear regulator. Also, no loss of human lives has been reported as of now.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority said no abnormalities had been found as of shortly before 7 pm (local time) at the Fukushima Daiichi and Daini nuclear power plants in Fukushima Prefecture, the Onagawa nuclear plant in Miyagi Prefecture, and the Tokai Daini nuclear plant in Ibaraki Prefecture, NHK World reported.
Japan lies along what is called the Pacific Ring of Fire, an imaginary horseshoe-shaped zone that follows the rim of the Pacific Ocean, where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.
The quake comes a little over a month after a 7.3 temblor struck neighbouring Fukushima Prefecture. The February 14 quake caused widespread power outages and left dozens injured. (ANI)
