A tsunami warning has been issued in Japan after a powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake shook off the coast of Fukushima on Wednesday causing buildings to rock in Tokyo.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake struck 36 miles below the sea at 11.38pm local time.
The agency issued a tsunami advisory for a surge of up to three feet of water in parts of Miyagi and Fukushima.
Wednesday’s earthquake hit in almost exactly the same spot at the 9 magnitude one which rocked the country in 2011, causing a massive tsunami and unleashed the Fukushima nuclear incident.
Toyko was plunged into darkness due to power outages caused by the earthquake and local reports suggest that thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes.
It is believed an initial earthquake of 6.4 magnitude hit at 11.36pm local time which was followed two minutes later by the 7.3 magnitude quake, according to USGS.
NHK national television said the tsunami might have reached some areas already.
And 6,820 people have reportedly been evacuated from Watari Town in Miyagi, according to local news site NHK.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, but at least two million households were left without power, including 700,000 in Tokyo, electricity provider TEPCO said.
In the northeastern region, 156,000 households had no power, regional energy company Tohoku Electric Power said.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters the government was gathering information on the situation.
‘We will commit ourselves to gathering information, do our best to rescue those affected by the (quake) and communicate information appropriately,’ he said.
TEPCO also said in a tweet that it was checking operations at the Fukushima nuclear plant that went into meltdown 11 years ago after a huge 9.0-magnitude quake hit off the eastern coast on March 11, 2011, triggering a tsunami and nuclear disaster.
The nuclear regulation authority said there were no abnormalities detected at Onagawa nuclear plant in northeastern Miyagi prefecture.
Products are scattered at a convenience store in Fukushima, northern Japan Wednesday, March 16, 2022, following an earthquake
Regional train company JR East said it was experiencing significant disruption to its operations.
Japan sits on the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’, an arc of intense seismic activity that stretches through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.
The Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, which operates the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant that suffered multiple meltdowns following the 2011 quake and tsunami that destroyed its cooling systems, said workers were checking for any possible damage.
Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force said it dispatched fighter jets from the Hyakuri base in Ibaraki prefecture, just south of Fukushima, for information gathering and damage assessment.
More than 2 million homes were without electricity in the Tokyo region serviced by TEPCO due to the quake, the utility said on its website. The quake shook large parts of eastern Japan, including Tokyo, where buildings swayed violently.
Furniture and electrical appliance are scattered at an apartment in Fukushima, northern Japan Wednesday, after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck
An apartment is upturned by the violent earthquake that rocked Japan earlier today
An employee clears products fallen from shelves at a convenience store in Iwaki, Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan Wednesday
East Japan Railway Co. said most of its train services were suspended for safety checks.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that the government was assessing the extent of damage and promised to do its utmost for rescue and relief operations.
‘Please first take action to save your life,’ Kishida tweeted.
The quake shook large parts of eastern Japan, including Tokyo, where buildings shook violently.
There are no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
The country is regularly hit by quakes, and has strict construction regulations intended to ensure buildings can withstand strong tremors.
But it remains haunted by the memory of the 2011 undersea quake in northeastern Japan that triggered a deadly tsunami and unleashed the Fukushima nuclear accident.
A minute’s silence was held on Friday, the anniversary of the disaster, to remember the some 18,500 people left dead or missing in the tsunami.
Around the stricken Fukushima plant, extensive decontamination has been carried out, and this year five former residents of Futaba, the region’s last uninhabited town, returned to live there on a trial basis.
Around 12 percent of Fukushima was once declared unsafe but no-go zones now cover just 2.4 percent of the prefecture, although populations in many towns remain far lower than before.
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