Read for fear of harm. More than a hundred people were injured in Japan in a magnitude 7.3 earthquake off Fukushima (northeast) that scared the country nearly ten years after the tsunami that led to a major nuclear accident in the central region, the authorities announced on Sunday February 14, 2021. The earthquake, which occurred on Saturday shortly after 11 p.m. (2 p.m. GMT), left 114 injured, six of them seriously affected in the region, but also around Tokyo where it was strongly felt. Followed by several aftershocks during the night, it did not cause a tsunami.
No deaths or major material damage were reported Sunday morning and no anomalies were detected on the nuclear power plants in the affected areas, the same as those struck by the 2011 disaster. On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9 earthquake accompanied of a gigantic tidal wave had left 18,000 dead and missing and seriously damaged the nuclear power plant of Fukushima Daiichi.
Saturday’s earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.3, is considered a distant aftershock of the 2011 earthquake, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). The epicenter was located at a depth of 60 kilometers in the Pacific Ocean and about 60 kilometers from the coast of Fukushima, according to the JMA. The American Institute of Geophysics (USGS) recorded a magnitude of 7.1 with a depth of 51 km.
“I was really afraid for my safety”
” I was home (…). The shock was so strong that I was really scared for my safety, ”Masami Nakai, a municipal official from the small town of Soma, in Fukushima prefecture, told AFP on Sunday. “The first shock seemed more powerful to me than the one I had known” in 2011, assured Tomoko Kobayashi, who works in a traditional inn in Minamisoma in the same region, to the Kyodo agency.
Power was almost 100% restored on Sunday morning, when nearly a million homes were without electricity after the first earthquake on Saturday evening. The main material damage visible at the moment was a landslide that damaged a highway in Fukushima prefecture. TV aerial footage also showed another landslide on a racing circuit in a remote location. High-speed train connections (Shinkansen) in northern Japan were suspended on Sunday, time to examine the condition of their infrastructure.
Risk of aftershocks
The Japanese authorities urged the population to “be extremely careful”, warning that further major aftershocks could occur in the days to come, and that the risk of landslides would increase with the rain expected Monday in the region. “In particular for the next two or three days, there could be very strong earthquakes,” warned government spokesman Katsunobu Kato.
The government continued to assess the damage toll on Sunday, reporting eight damaged structures, mostly houses, while local media reported dozens of buildings with collapsed ceilings or gutted pipes. Members of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces were dispatched to the affected areas to distribute water in particular, some 4,800 homes no longer have access to running water, according to Katsunobu Kato. The earthquake comes as Japan tries to contain Covid-19 while preparing to host the Olympic Games (July 23-August 8, 2021) postponed last year due to the pandemic.
250 refugees
More than 250 people took refuge in 173 evacuation centers overnight in the Fukushima region, respecting barrier gestures with tents for each family, but most have now returned home, added Katsunobu Kato. The American group Pfizer, whose Covid-19 vaccine is expected to become the first to be approved by Japan on Sunday, told the government that its storage centers for the vaccine had not been affected, he said. .
Located at the crossroads of several large tectonic plates, Japan is regularly affected by earthquakes and has strict building standards so that its buildings are able to withstand strong tremors. In September 2018, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake killed 44 people on the northern island of Hokkaido. In January 1995, the earthquake in Kobe (West) killed nearly 6,500 people.
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
