Japan | Offshore quake causes tsunamis, nuclear worries in Japan

Japan Meteorological Agency earthquake expert Koji Nakamura points a map of Fukushima and its surrounding prefectures

A  powerful earthquake off the northeast Japanese shore yesterday sent residents fleeing to higher ground and prompted worries about the Fukushima nuclear power plant destroyed by a tsunami five year ago.

Lines of cars were seen snaking away from the coast in the pre-dawn hours after authorities issued a tsunami warning and urged residents to seek higher ground immediately. The warning was lifted nearly four hours later.

The magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck in the same region that was devastated by a tsunami in 2011, killing some 18,000 people.

There were reports of minor injuries and damage, Japanese broadcaster NHK said. The earthquake shook buildings in Tokyo, 240 kilometers southwest of the epicenter.

NHK also showed one person’s video of water rushing up a river or canal, but well within the height of the embankment. It was eerily reminiscent of the 2011 disaster, when much larger tsunamis rushed up rivers and overflowed, wiping away entire neighborhoods.

Yesterday, tsunami waves were recorded along the coast. The highest one was 1.4 meters in Sendai Bay. A tsunami advisory for waves of up to 1 meter remained in effect along the coast.

The operator of the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant said there were no abnormalities observed at the plant, though a swelling of the tide of up to 1 meter was detected offshore.

The plant was swamped by the 2011 tsunami, sending three reactors into meltdown and leaking radiation into the surrounding area. The plant is being decommissioned but the situation remains serious as the utility figures out how to remove still-radioactive fuel rods and debris and what to do with the melted reactor cores.

Plant operator TEPCO said a pump that supplies cooling water to a spent fuel pool at the nearby Fukushima Dai-ni plant stopped working, but that a backup pump had been launched to restore cooling water to the pool. Both plants are run by Tokyo-based TEPCO.

Naohiro Masuda, head of TEPCO’s decommissioning unit, said he believes that the pump was shut off automatically by a safety system as the water in the pool shook.

He said decommissioning work at the destroyed Dai-
ichi plant had been temporarily suspended because of the earthquake.

The U.S. Geological Survey measured the magnitude at 6.9. AP

2 strong quakes strike New Zealand; no reports of damage

Two strong earthquakes rattled different parts of New Zealand yesterday but there were no initial reports of serious damage or injuries.

The first magnitude 5.6 quake struck off the coast of New Zealand’s North Island at about 1:20 p.m.

It was followed about five hours later by a magnitude 5.3 quake that struck the South Island and appeared to have been an aftershock from a powerful earthquake last week.