Emergencies - Strong earthquake in Japan - warning of tsunami
A strong earthquake has shaken large areas of Japan along the coast of the Sea of Japan and triggered a tsunami warning. The National Meteorological Agency warned of a three-meter-high tsunami on Monday. Ishikawa Prefecture was particularly affected. A tsunami of up to five meters could hit the coast there, it said. Power was cut to 32,500 households. However, there were initially no reports of damage or injuries. According to the government, there were no irregularities at nuclear power plants in the region. Buildings in the area around the capital Tokyo also began to sway. The government set up a crisis team.
According to preliminary information, the earthquake at 4.10 p.m. (8.10 a.m. CET) had a magnitude of 7.6, although it had initially been given as 7.4. According to the weather authorities, the epicenter was located at a shallow depth in the Noto region. A spokeswoman for Japanese television station NHK continuously and urgently called on residents to seek safety on high ground.
Tsunami warnings were also issued for the coastal areas of Yamagata, Niigata, Toyama, Fukui and Hyogo prefectures. In some regions, the first tidal waves were registered soon after the quake. The government also called on people in the affected areas to move to safety. The operation of high-speed trains was temporarily halted.
Compared to the tsunami disaster in March 2011, the tidal waves were much smaller this time. Back then, a magnitude 9 seaquake triggered a massive tsunami that devastated large areas in the north-east of the archipelago and killed around 20,000 people. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant suffered a meltdown. Japan is one of the countries in the world most at risk from earthquakes.
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- The emergency team in Tokyo carefully monitored the situation at nearby nuclear power plants, given Japan's vulnerability to earthquakes and the potential impact on electricity generation.
- Following the earthquake, some nuclear power plants temporarily shut down as a precautionary measure to ensure safety, as a similar event in 2011 had led to a nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
- In the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami, cities like Tokyo relied heavily on backup power sources, such as alternate energy sources like electricity from solar panels and wind turbines, as the usual nuclear and hydroelectric plants were affected.
Source: www.stern.de
