A powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck off northern Japan late Monday, injuring 23 people and triggering a tsunami in Pacific coast communities, officials said. Authorities warned of possible aftershocks and an increased risk of a megaquake.
The Japanese government was still assessing damages from the tsunami and late-evening quake, which struck at about 11:15 p.m. in the Pacific Ocean, around 80 kilometres (50 miles) off the coast of Aomori, the northernmost prefecture of Japan’s main Honshu island.
“I’ve never experienced such a big shaking,” convenience store owner Nobuo Yamada told public broadcaster NHK in the Aomori prefecture town of Hachinohe, adding that “luckily” power lines were s…
A powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck off northern Japan late Monday, injuring 23 people and triggering a tsunami in Pacific coast communities, officials said. Authorities warned of possible aftershocks and an increased risk of a megaquake.
The Japanese government was still assessing damages from the tsunami and late-evening quake, which struck at about 11:15 p.m. in the Pacific Ocean, around 80 kilometres (50 miles) off the coast of Aomori, the northernmost prefecture of Japan’s main Honshu island.
“I’ve never experienced such a big shaking,” convenience store owner Nobuo Yamada told public broadcaster NHK in the Aomori prefecture town of Hachinohe, adding that “luckily” power lines were still operating in his area.
A tsunami of up to 70 centimetres (2 feet 4 inches) was measured in Kuji port in Iwate prefecture, just south of Aomori, and tsunami levels of up to 50 centimetres struck other coastal communities in the region, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said 23 people were injured, including one seriously. Most were hit by falling objects, NHK reported, adding that several people were injured in a hotel in Hachinohe and a man in Tohoku was slightly hurt when his car fell into a hole.
The meteorological agency reported the quake’s magnitude as 7.5, down from its earlier estimate of 7.6. It issued an alert for potential tsunami surges of up to 3 metres (10 feet) in some areas and later downgraded this to an advisory.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara urged residents to go to higher ground or seek shelter until advisories were lifted. He said about 800 homes were without electricity and that Shinkansen bullet trains and some local lines were suspended in parts of the region.
Nuclear power plants in the region were conducting safety checks, Kihara said. The Nuclear Regulation Authority said about 450 litres (118 gallons) of water spilled from a spent-fuel cooling area at the Rokkasho fuel reprocessing plant in Aomori, but that water levels remained normal and there was no safety concern.
About 480 residents were taking shelter at the Hachinohe Air Base, and 18 defence helicopters were mobilised for a damage assessment, Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said.
Read moreDeath toll in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia floods tops 250
About 200 passengers were stranded overnight at New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido, NHK reported.
The meteorological agency issued a caution about possible aftershocks in the coming days. It said there was a slight increase in the risk of a magnitude-8-level quake and possible tsunami along Japan’s northeastern coast from Chiba, just east of Tokyo, to Hokkaido. The agency urged residents in 182 municipalities in the area to review their emergency preparedness in the coming week.
Satoshi Kato, a vice-principal of a public high school in Hachinohe, told NHK that he was at home when the quake struck and that glasses and bowls smashed onto the floor.
Kato said he drove to the school because it was designated an evacuation centre, and on the way he encountered traffic jams and car accidents as panicked people tried to flee. Nobody had yet come to the school to take shelter, he said.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the government set up an emergency task force to urgently assess the damage. “We are putting people’s lives first and doing everything we can,” she said.
Later, she urged residents in the region to pay attention to the latest information from local municipalities. “Please be prepared so you can immediately evacuate as soon as you feel a tremor.”
The quake struck about 80 kilometres (50 miles) northeast of Hachinohe and about 50 kilometres (30 miles) below the sea surface, the meteorological agency said.
It occurred just north of the stretch of coast devastated by the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami in 2011 that killed nearly 20,000 people and destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
“You need to prepare, assuming that a disaster like that could happen again,” said Satoshi Harada of the agency’s earthquake and volcano division.
At 6:20 a.m. Tuesday, authorities lifted all tsunami advisories for the Pacific coastline in northern Japan, NHK said.
The US Geological Survey reported another earthquake of magnitude 5.1 early Tuesday about 122 kilometres (76 miles) south of Honcho at a depth of 35 kilometres. No other details were immediately available.
(FRANCE 24 with AP)