Arab News Japan

TOKYO: A moderately strong earthquake with a magnitude of 5.4 on the Richter Scale and with a maximum seismic intensity of 4 struck Fukushima Prefecture at around 6:17 a.m. on Sunday not far from the damaged Daiichi nuclear plant that was destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the epicenter was estimated to be in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture at a depth of approximately 50 km. The agency said there was no likelihood of a tsunami from the earthquake.

It was the second quake in two days to hit the area. An earthquake with a slightly larger magnitude and greater seismic impact struck on Friday.

The quakes came 13 years and one week after the massive 9.0 quake and tsunami that devastated Fukushima and surrounding prefectures on March 11, 2011, and caused one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters.

The tremors from Sunday’s quake again shook a large area, including Fukushima, Miyagi, Ibaraki, and Tochigi prefectures, while shaking was also felt in buildings in Tokyo. 

Operators of nuclear plants in the region, including Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which operates the Fukushima plant, reported no new abnormalities. The company said it was still checking the status of its plants in Okuma and Futaba towns in Fukushima Prefecture, which experienced earthquakes with an intensity of 4, and at the Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plant in Tomioka and Naraha towns. 

National broadcaster NHK reported no change in the values ​​measured at monitoring posts that check radiation levels around each nuclear power plant.

The Japan Meteorological Agency defines a level 4 quake as being felt by most people even if they are walking and likely to wake people who are sleeping.