Arab News Japan

TOKYO: A powerful earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.4 occurred off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture in the Tohoku northeastern Japan region Wednesday night, leaving one person died.

Tsunami waves of up to 30 centimeters were observed in Fukushima and neighboring Miyagi prefectures. The tsunami advisory issued for coastal areas in the two prefectures were removed at 5 a.m. Thursday (8 p.m. Wednesday GMT).

The Japanese government has corrected the number of deaths, to one from four, in a powerful earthquake that occurred off the Pacific coast of Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, before midnight Wednesday.

At a press conference on Thursday morning, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno initially announced that four people were found dead after the quake.

The quake struck around 11:36 p.m. Wednesday, measuring upper 6, the second-highest level on the Japanese seismic intensity scale in some Miyagi and Fukushima municipalities, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

Among the municipalities were the Miyagi city of Tome and the Fukushima cities of Soma and Minamisoma. The quake, which happened at the depth of 57 kilometers, was also felt in the Kanto eastern region including Tokyo.

A 30-centimeter tsunami wave was observed at a port in the Miyagi city of Ishinomaki at 2:14 a.m. Thursday. A tsunami wave of 20 centimeters was observed at a port in the Miyagi city of Sendai and in Soma. Minor tsunami waves were also observed in other coastal areas in Miyagi and Fukushima.

The two prefectures issued evacuation orders to residents in coastal areas, and about 350 people in Fukushima evacuated.

The government set up a quake response task force at the crisis management center of the prime minister’s office just after the quake.

Kishida entered the office at 11:55 p.m. Wednesday. He told reporters that citizens should take action to protect themselves.

The government has sent investigators from the Cabinet Office to Miyagi and Fukushima, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a news conference in the early hours of Thursday.

The quake caused a derailment of a Tohoku Shinkansen bullet train between Fukushima and Shiroishizao stations. Nobody was injured on the train with 78 passengers and crew members aboard.

Tohoku Shinkansen runs were suspended between Nasushiobara and Morioka stations. Sections of some expressways, including East Nippon Expressway Co.’s Tohoku Expressway, were closed for traffic.

Pumping equipment for spent nuclear fuel pools at the No. 1 and No. 3 reactors of the Fukushima No. 2 nuclear plant stopped temporarily, the Nuclear Regulation Authority said.

At the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, a fire alarm went off at a turbine building at the No. 5 reactor, but no fire has been confirmed.

The quake caused blackouts briefly affecting up to 2.2 million households in the Kanto and Tohoku regions. Some 33,600 households were out of power in Tohoku as of 9:05 a.m. Thursday.

At a news conference, Masaki Nakamura, director at the meteorological agency’s Earthquake and Volcanic Engineering Affairs Division, said that a quake measuring up to upper 6 may occur again.

Nakamura said the public should watch out for such a temblor at least for the coming week.

This is a rare case where an earthquake causes parts of Tokyo to go dark.

*With JIJI Press