A magnitude 6 earthquake shakes eastern Japan
An earthquake of magnitude 6 shook a large area of eastern Japan this Thursday, with an epicenter off the coast of Fukushima, without activating the tsunami alert and without any damage resulting from it.
Details of the earthquake
The earthquake took place at 12.16 local time this Thursday and had its epicenter at a depth of 40 kilometers off the coast of Fukushima prefecture, in the east of the country, as reported by the Meteorological Agency of Japan (JMA).
The tremor reached level 4 on the Japanese seismic scale (of 7 levels and focused on measuring surface shaking and potential damage) and the same level in the adjacent prefectures of Iwate and Miyagi.
Review of the Fukushima plant
The operator of the damaged Fukushima plant, TEPCO, said it was reviewing whether there were any problems after the earthquake, state broadcaster NHK reported, while the JR East railway suspended operations of the bullet train from Tohoku, which connects Tokyo with Sendai due to a blackout. According to Tohoku Electric Power, no anomalies have been detected at the Miyagi Ongawa nuclear power plant or in radiation levels in nearby areas.
Seismic context of Japan
Japan is located on the so-called Ring of Fire, one of the most active seismic zones in the world, and suffers from relatively frequent earthquakes, so its infrastructure is specially designed to withstand them.
Earthquake in Taiwan
Thursday’s earthquake in Japan comes after a strong earthquake hit Taiwan, leaving nearly a dozen dead and hundreds injured and prompting a tsunami alert to be activated on the islands of the Okinawa archipelago, in southwest Japan.
Rescues in Taiwan
Emergency teams continue this Thursday the rescue work of more than 600 people trapped after the strong earthquake that shook the east coast of Taiwan yesterday, which left nine dead and more than 1,000 injured.
Authorities are searching for 688 people trapped or incommunicado by the multiple rockfalls recorded after the earthquake, the biggest to hit Taiwan since 1999.