Tokyo: A powerful earthquake struck off the northern coast of Japan during rush hour on Thursday morning, but the country’s meteorological agency said there was no danger of a tsunami and no serious injuries were reported. The temblor shook dozens of towns across northeastern Japan and was even mildly felt in the capital, Tokyo. It hit in an area where strong earthquakes have repeatedly been reported in recent months, including one that triggered a weeklong mega-quake caution advisory in December.
In the town of Hashikami, a school principal recounted how her car shook sideways when the quake struck as she was driving to work. Children already gathered at the school were safe, she said, though some were crying in fear.
The quake – off the eastern coast of the Iwate prefecture – had a magnitude of 7.2, upgraded from an initial reading of 6.9, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. Its depth was about 50 kilometres, the agency said. The US Geological Survey also reported the quake, giving its magnitude as 6.9.
Eight people were injured in the northern prefectures of Aomori and Iwate, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said. Japanese media had no report of life-threatening injuries, and the injuries that were reported were mainly from falling or being hit by falling objects.
While the earthquakes occurred thousands of kilometres apart, two of them in Japan and California took place within the Pacific Ring of Fire, a vast belt of seismic and volcanic activity that accounts for the majority of the world’s earthquakes. The Venezuelan quake, however, originated from a different tectonic setting altogether.
In Tokyo, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told reporters that her government’s emergency team is “putting people’s lives first,” while assessing information and preparing for relief operations, if needed. She urged residents in the affected regions to use caution against possible aftershocks.
Tomoko Nagane, the primary school principal in Hashikami, in Aomori prefecture, told NHK that classes were cancelled for the day and that all children returned home safely.
Footage on Japan’s NHK public television showed several towns, including Sendai and Morioka, where the broadcaster’s reporters said they felt the shaking for a couple of minutes but had not seen any damage. Videos showed people commuting as usual.
The East Japan Railway Co, which operates trains in northeastern regions, said some bullet trains and local lines were temporarily suspended for safety checks.
Nuclear power plants and facilities, including the Fukushima Daiichi plant, which was damaged by the 2011 massive quake and tsunami, and a spent fuel reprocessing plant in Aomori, have not reported any abnormalities from Thursday’s earthquake, government spokesperson Minoru Kihara said.
Japan, which sits on what is known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone areas.
A series of powerful earthquakes reported across Japan, California and Venezuela has once again drawn attention to one of Earth’s most active geological zones: the Ring of Fire.
