A magnitude 7.1 earthquake that hit the east coast of Japan has injured dozens, nearly a million households have been left without electricity, but three nearby nuclear power plants are operating without difficulty, reports Al Jazeera Balkans.
The epicenter was reported below the coast of Fukushima Prefecture at a depth of 60 kilometers, the Japanese Meteorological Service announced. No tsunami alert was issued, Hina reported, citing Reuters.
A Reuters cameraman based in Fukushima said his hotel room on the 10th floor was shaking for a while. One man from the hotel was hospitalized after he fell and hit his head on the door.
Numerous storefronts were smashed, television footage shows, while Kyodo News reported dozens of injured, but no serious injuries appear.
Nearly 950,000 households were left without electricity, government spokesman Katsunobu Kato was quoted as saying by the NHK public service. Northeast Japan, including Fukushima and neighboring prefectures, was left without electricity.
Nearby nuclear power plants, “Fukushima Daiichi”, “Daini” and “Kahiwazaki-Kariwa”, are operating without difficulty, said the owner of the company “Tokyo Electric Power” (TEPCO).
The quake hit Fukushima just weeks before the 10th anniversary of the devastating March 11, 2011 earthquake that ravaged northeastern Japan and caused a massive tsunami that led to the world’s biggest nuclear crisis in a quarter of a century.
Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the most seismically active areas in the world. Japan accounts for a fifth of the world’s earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 or higher.
