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7.4 magnitude earthquake hits Japan’s northeast coast, killing four and injuring at least 100
The US Time Today reported, citing Reuters, thousands of Japanese homes were left without power on Thursday as businesses worked to assess damage in the morning after a powerful tremor hit Japan’s northeast coast, killing at least four people and injuring nearly 100, some seriously.
The 7.4-magnitude quake, which struck just before midnight on Wednesday and revived memories of the March 11, 2011 disaster, also severed transport links to the northeast, with the Shinkansen bullet train suspended indefinitely and at least one major road into the region Checks have been blocked for security reasons.
Parts of Tokyo lost power immediately after the quake, although most regained it within three hours. But around 36,400 homes powered by Tohoku Electric Power Co in northeastern Japan were left without power as of 9:00 a.m. local time (0000 GMT) on Thursday, although the company said it expects to have power to most later in the day is restored.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said four people had died and the government was on high alert for the possibility of more severe shaking in the next two to three days.
The quake, originally measured as magnitude 7.3 but later corrected to 7.4 by the Japan Meteorological Agency, struck at 11:36 p.m. local time just off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture at a depth of 60 kilometers. The 2011 Fukushima earthquake and tsunami, commemorated across the country less than a week ago, left about 18,000 dead.
A tsunami warning was issued but canceled early Thursday morning. Some areas reported sea level rise, but no serious damage was immediately reported.
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The 2011 disaster also triggered meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. No anomalies were reported at any nuclear power plant, although authorities had previously said a fire alarm had gone off in a turbine building at the shut down plant.
The manufacturers tried to assess the potential damage to their systems.
Renesas Electronics Corp, the world’s largest maker of microcontroller chips for the automotive industry, said it is inspecting three plants in Japan for earthquake damage.
Meanwhile, Toyota Motor Corp said it had canceled day shifts at two factories in northeast Japan after workers evacuated the plants during their evening shift on Wednesday. The automaker said it would decide on the late shift later.
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The main banking arm of Mizuho Financial Group Inc said some of its ATMs had temporarily shut down due to power outages, but that they have all been put back into service.
In a bid to cover the area affected by the Shinkansen outage, All Nippon Airways said it has added additional flights to the northern city of Sendai. There were no forecasts as to when regular rail operations could resume.
Japan’s benchmark stock index, the Nikkei, rose sharply without being affected by the quake.
Source: ustimetoday
