Japan: At Least 30 Injured After Strong Earthquake and Tsunami
A powerful earthquake struck northern Japan on the night from Monday to Tuesday, generating tsunami waves of 70 cm and injuring at least 30 people, according to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) warned the public that the 7.5 magnitude earthquake—initially estimated at 7.6—occurred offshore near the northern Aomori region at 11:15 PM local time (2:15 PM GMT) and could be followed by aftershocks in the coming days.
"Listen to information from the JMA and local authorities throughout the week, ensure your furniture is secured... and be ready to evacuate if you feel a tremor," said Ms. Takaichi.
Among the injured is one person severely affected on Hokkaido Island, the northernmost of the archipelago, according to the Japanese Fire and Disaster Management Agency, which has recommended the evacuation of 28,000 people.
In Sapporo, Hokkaido's main city, an AFP journalist reported that the ground shook violently for about thirty seconds while smartphone alarms blared to alert residents.
Live images showed shards of broken glass scattered on the roads and objects on the floor in stores.
At dawn on Tuesday, residents discovered that several roads had been damaged as snow began to cover the ground in the area.
"When we felt the tremor and the alert system went off, we rushed out of the house. We were holding our children—a 2-year-old girl and a 1-year-old boy—in our arms. That tremor reminded me of the Fukushima disaster in 2011," said Daiki Shimohata, a 33-year-old municipal employee from Hashikami in Aomori Prefecture, to AFP.
"Objects fell off shelves, and some kind of powder fell from the ceiling," he noted while checking one of the municipal facilities he is responsible for maintaining that night.
Around 2,700 households temporarily lost electricity in Aomori, with about thirty households still without power by late Tuesday morning as winter sets in.
The JMA initially issued a tsunami warning suggesting waves could reach 3 meters and urged thousands in the region closest to the epicenter to seek shelter.
Train Services Suspended
Shinkansen high-speed train services were suspended in certain areas while the condition of the tracks was assessed.
Tohoku Electric Power reported that no anomalies were detected at the two nuclear power plants nearest to the epicenter, Higashidori in Aomori and Onagawa in Miyagi Prefecture.
The region is still traumatized by the 9.0 magnitude earthquake in March 2011, which triggered a tsunami that caused around 18,500 deaths or disappearances.
The disaster also led to the meltdown of three reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant, the worst nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl disaster in April 1986.
Japan sits at the junction of four tectonic plates on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," making it one of the most seismically active countries in the world.
The archipelago of 125 million people experiences about 1,500 earthquakes annually, most of which are minor, though damage can vary based on their location and depth.
In January, a group of government experts slightly increased the probability of a major tremor in the Nankai Trough off Japan within the next thirty years to 75-82%.
The government later released a new estimate in March, indicating that such a "mega-earthquake" and the ensuing tsunami could result in up to 298,000 deaths and damages reaching $2 trillion.
