Asia-Pacific

Japan earthquake: More than 100 people injured near Fukushima

The 7.3 quake is aftershock from 2011 incident which shook nuclear plant, experts say

Residents collect damaged roof tiles on Sunday following a powerful earthquake in Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, northern Japan. Photograph: EPA/Kimimasa Mayama

Sun Feb 14 2021 - 10:15

Trains were halted over a wide area of northeastern Japan on Sunday after more than 100 people were injured in an earthquake that appeared to be an aftershock from the devastating quake that hit the area in 2011.

The 7.3 magnitude quake struck shortly before midnight on Saturday and cracked walls, shattered windows and set off a landslide in Fukushima, the area closest to the epicentre.

At least 104 people were injured, Japan’s national broadcaster said, including several who suffered fractures, but there were no reported deaths.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake was believed to be an aftershock from the magnitude 9.0 earthquake on March 11th, 2011, that set off a tsunami and the world’s worst nuclear accident in 25 years.

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The agency warned of aftershocks for several days. The quake shook buildings in the Japanese capital Tokyo hundreds of kilometres away.

Though hundreds of thousands of buildings lost electricity just after the quake, power had been restored to most by Sunday morning. Several thousand households remained without water, however, and residents lined up with plastic jugs to receive water from trucks.

The power outages did not affect any of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines that arrived on Friday for inoculations that are to start this week, chief cabinet secretary Katsunobu Kato said.

Tokyo Electric Power Co, the utility that runs the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant that was hit by the March 2011 disaster, said the water used to cool spent fuel rods near the reactors had spilled because of the shaking. But there were no radiation leaks or other irregularities, TEPCO said.

The quake did not cause a tsunami because the epicentre was deep at 54.7km (34 miles) beneath the ocean.

Power had been restored by early Sunday, although some bullet-train services were still halted. East Japan Railway Co said the bullet train on the northern coast would be suspended until Monday due to damage to its facility.

TV footage and video shared on social media showed boxes, books and other items scattered on floors. In the northern Fukushima city of Soma, a roof at a Buddhist temple collapsed.

Workers were clearing up a major coastal highway connecting Tokyo and northern cities where a major landslide occurred. Several other roads were also blocked by rocks. – Reuters, AP

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