A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Fukushima in northeastern Japan on Wednesday evening, leaving four dead and more than 2 million homes in the Tokyo region plunged into darkness.
The region was devastated by a deadly 9.0 earthquake and tsunami 11 years ago, which also triggered nuclear power plants, emitting massive amounts of radiation that still make some parts uninhabitable.
The Japanese Meteorological Agency later lifted its low-risk tsunami alert along the coasts of Fukushima and Miyagi early Thursday. Tsunami waves of 30cm (11in) reached shores at Ishinomaki, located about 390km (242 miles) northeast of Tokyo. The agency increased the magnitude of the earthquake to 7.4 from the initial 7.3.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said four people had been killed and that the government was on high alert for the possibility of further strong quakes in the next two to three days.
At least 107 people were reported injured, some of them seriously, with 4,300 households still without water by noon this morning. Residents of a Fukushima town have formed a long line in a parking lot to fill plastic containers with water for home use.
NHK footage shows broken walls of a department store building falling to the ground and screens of windows scattered on the road near the main station in the city of Fukushima, about 60 km (36 miles) from the coast. The roads were cracked and water was poured from the pipes under the ground. Footage also showed furniture and appliances broken on the floor in apartments in Fukushima.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, which operates the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, where refrigeration systems failed after the 2011 disaster, said workers did not find any abnormalities at the site that was being dismantled.
The Japanese Nuclear Regulatory Authority said a fire alarm went off at the No. 5 reactor building in Fukushima Daiichi, but there was no actual fire. The water pumps for the spent fuel cooling pool at two of the four reactors at Fukushima Daini stopped short, but later the operation started again. Fukushima Daini, who survived the 2011 tsunami, is also planned for demolition.
Manufacturers, including global chip maker Renesas Electronics and car maker Toyota, said they were trying to measure the potential damage to their facilities in the region.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake struck at 23:36 at a depth of 60 km (36 miles) under the sea.
The Japanese Air Self-Defense Force said it had sent fighter jets from the Hyakuri base to Ibaraki prefecture, just south of Fukushima, to gather information and assess damage.
More than 2.2m of homes were temporarily without electricity in 14 prefectures, including the Tokyo region, but power was restored in most places this morning, except for a few houses in the hard-hit Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures, according to Tohoku Electric Power. Co., the services of the region.
The quake shook large parts of eastern Japan, including Tokyo, where buildings shook violently.
East Japan Railway Co. said most of its train services were suspended for safety checks. Some local trains later resumed service.
Many people formed long lines outside major stations while waiting for trains to open late Wednesday, but trains to Tokyo usually operated on Thursday mornings.
A Tohoku Shinkansen express train was partially fired between Fukushima and Miyagi due to the earthquake, but no one was injured, Kishida said.
He told reporters that the government was assessing the extent of the damage and promised to do its best for rescue and relief operations.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said authorities were struggling to assess damage. “We do our best in rescue operations and put people’s lives first,” he said.
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