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| A landslide occurred in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, due to a strong earthquake on the 14th. © AFP=News1 |
An earthquake of 7.1 magnitude occurred off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, and about 110 people were injured. The Japanese meteorological authorities are urging to be careful about aftershocks for about a week.
Japan’s ANN broadcast said that as of 8:30 am on the 14th, 115 people were injured in Fukushima Prefecture, Miyagi Prefecture, and Ibaraki Prefecture.
Japan’s public broadcaster NHK said that there have been earthquakes in the offshore of Fukushima Prefecture afterwards, and the Meteorological Agency is calling for attention to earthquakes for about a week.
According to Japanese media, the earthquake caused a power outage to about 70,000 households at one time in the Tohoku region in the northeastern part of Honshu and about 850,000 households at one time in the Kanto region to the east of Honshu.
ANN broadcast said Toko Electric Power’s Fukushima No. 1 and No. 2 nuclear power plants, Tohoku Electric Power’s Onagawa nuclear power plant, and Ibaraki Prefecture’s Tokai nuclear power plant had no abnormalities.
However, Japanese TBS Broadcasting reported that water overflowed from the spent fuel tank (pool) of units 5 and 6 of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant at the time a little past 2 am due to the earthquake.
TBS reported that water appears to have overflowed from the spent fuel tank due to the shaking of the earthquake. It also reported that there was no external impact, citing the announcement of the Tokyo strategy.
In addition, in Fukushima Prefecture, houses and walls were damaged due to a strong earthquake. In addition, a landslide occurred in Soma City, which blocked traffic on some motorways.
NHK said that in the Matsukawa Port in Soma City, Fukushima Prefecture, a step of up to 10 cm in the quay wall was about 70 m long, and that this earthquake seems to have caused the impact.
The Japanese government held a meeting of related ministers on the morning of the 14th to discuss earthquake measures. The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Secretary of State Kato Katsunobu, and Disaster Prevention Officer Hachiro Okonogi.
Prime Minister Suga said on the day, “There are many injured people in Fukushiha Prefecture and Miyagi Prefecture, but we have received reports that no one has died at this time.”
He then ordered, “Please make every effort to cooperate closely with the affected local governments to keep alert for secondary disasters such as aftershocks and landslides, to provide accurate information to the people and to take emergency measures for disasters.”
According to NHK, the magnitude 7.1 earthquake occurred at around 11:8 pm the previous day at 37.7 degrees north latitude and 141.8 degrees east longitude off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture.
The depth of the epicenter is estimated to be about 60 km, and although the earthquake may cause some sea level fluctuations on the Japanese coast, there is no possibility of a tsunami, NHK said.