The aftershock of that day 10 years ago hit Fukushima… Japan spent the night of horror

Due to a strong earthquake off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, late at night on the 13th, residents of the Tohoku region had to spend an uneasy night trembling by the trauma of the Great East Japan Earthquake 10 years ago.

On the afternoon of the 14th, Tsuneo Shishido, the owner of the restaurant, who met in Koori-machi, Fukushima Prefecture, said that the night before was “almost the same as 10 years ago.” He said, “I put water on the stove at home, and the shaking of the earthquake caused water to spill and burn my feet. Everything spilled from the cupboards and bookshelves. It was really scary.” Shishido came to the restaurant early this morning and was cleaning up the restaurant that was messed with by the earthquake.

Immediately after the earthquake, there was news that there was no fear of a tsunami (a tsunami), but many residents did not stay at home and headed to nearby highlands or shelters. According to the Nihongeizai Shimbun, a procession of residents fleeing by car until dawn on the 14th continued in the highlands of Ishinomaki City in Miyagi Prefecture.

A 50-year-old housewife, who suffered damage from the Great East Japan Earthquake completely ruining his home, said, “I thought it was as dangerous as 10 years ago, so I loaded household goods with my husband and daughter in the car.” Ishinomaki City is a city where 3,500 people died from the tsunami during the Great East Japan Earthquake that occurred on March 11, 2011.

The earthquake occurred on the 13th at 11:8 pm off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture at 37.7 degrees north latitude and 141.8 degrees east longitude, about 60 km deep. Richter’s magnitude was 7.3, the same century as the earthquake that occurred in Kumamoto (熊本) in 2016. The earthquake caused the largest shaking of the 6 rivers in Fukushima and parts of Miyagi Prefecture. The capital, Tokyo, recorded an intensity of 4.

‘Jindo’ is an index used by the Japan Meteorological Agency and is a measure of how much a certain area has been shaken by an earthquake. It is a different concept from the Richter scale, which refers to the absolute strength of an earthquake measured at the epicenter. The Japanese government divides the progress into 10 stages, and the’Six River’, which is the level immediately below the top 7, is such that people cannot stand and have to crawl on the floor, and unfixed furniture is greatly shaken and some collapse. .

Although the magnitude of the earthquake was strong, it occurred deep in the sea, and the damage was small compared to the Kumamoto earthquake that occurred in the inland active fault. There was no tsunami. Experts analyzed that while the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred on the shallow seabed at a depth of about 24 km, causing a huge tsunami, this time the epicenter was deep underground and did not cause a tsunami.

No human injury has been confirmed by the earthquake, and a total of 150 people were injured in Fukushima Prefecture, including a 67-year-old woman rolled off stairs and seriously injured. In Fukushima, roads were blocked due to a landslide, houses collapsed, and a fire broke out in an apartment house in Miyagi Prefecture, causing residents to evacuate quickly.

Immediately after the earthquake, 900,000 households in the metropolitan area, Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate, and Niigata prefectures suffered power outages, but were resolved in most areas on the morning of the 14th. Some areas of the Tohoku Shinkansen destined for the affected area were suspended until the 15th.

Interest was also focused on whether the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant was being decommissioned. The Japan Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority announced that no abnormalities were found in the nuclear power plant until the morning of the 14th. However, Kyodo News Agency reported that it was confirmed that water overflowed from the spent fuel tank (pool) on the upper part of the reactor building of nuclear power plant No. 5 and 6 in the aftermath of the earthquake. The amount of water overflowed was small and the radiation dose was low, so there was no safety problem, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Agency explained.

The Japanese government, which has been criticized for its prolonged response to the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19), is moving rapidly during this earthquake. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga ordered the installation of a countermeasure room at the Crisis Management Center in the Prime Minister’s Office at 11:09 pm, one minute after the earthquake, and arrived at the Prime Minister’s Residence at around 11:28 pm.

Japan’s Secretary of State Kato Katsunobu ran into the lobby of the Prime Minister’s residence approximately 10 minutes after Suga’s arrival and held the first press conference at 1:14 am on the 14th. Prime Minister Suga also said in front of reporters waiting at the Prime Minister’s residence at 1:58 am, “There is no fear of a tsunami, and there is no abnormality in the nuclear facilities. We will make sure to respond with life as the first.”

At 9 am on the 14th, a countermeasure meeting was held at the Prime Minister’s residence.

At the request of Fukushima Prefecture, the Japanese government plans to dispatch the Self-Defense Forces to assist in recovery and shelter. It also announced that it will take thorough quarantine measures to prevent the spread of Corona 19 in the disaster area. In an interview on the morning of the 14th, Minister Kato said, “There was a power outage in the metropolitan area, but the Pfizer’s Corona 19 vaccine, which was stored in Korea, was not affected.”

Meanwhile, the Japan Meteorological Agency announced that the earthquake is likely to be an aftershock of the Great East Japan Earthquake 10 years ago. The Great East Japan Earthquake, which took place off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture, recorded a record high of 9.0 on the Richter scale. At that time, a huge tsunami hit the Pacific coastal villages of Fukushima and Miyagi Prefecture, and 15,899 people were killed, and the number of missing persons still reached 2527.

As it was a very powerful earthquake, after 10 years have passed, aftershocks continue. According to an announcement by the Meteorological Administration, 175 aftershocks of magnitude 4.0 or more occurred in the region for a year starting from March 11, 2019.

The aftershock continued on the 14th. At 4:31 pm on that day, a 5.2-scale earthquake occurred near the epicenter the day before.

Fukushima = correspondent Yoon Seol-young, Tokyo = correspondent Lee Young-hee [email protected]