Powerful Japan earthquake kills four as thousands of households left without power
More than 150 people have been injured in devastating earthquake
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Your support makes all the difference.The death toll from the 7.4-magnitude earthquake that hit north-east Japan late on Wednesday night has increased to four, prime minister Fumio Kishida announced on Thursday. More than 150 people were injured in the city of Soma, Fukushima.
The government is on high alert as there is a “strong possibility” of more tremors over the next few days. A 5.6 magnitude aftershock of hit about an hour later shortly before 1am Thursday.
After the earthquake hit around 11.36pm local time on Wednesday, the Japan Meteorological Agency issued tsunami warnings for the prefectures of Fukushima and Miyagi. Though the warning was cancelled on Thursday morning, some areas reported a rise in sea levels. However, there was no serious damage, according to reports.
The earthquake off the coast of Japan came just days after the 11th anniversary of the 2011 nuclear disaster at the Fukushima nuclear reactor.
Buildings in Tokyo shook violently and more than two million homes lost power in large parts of eastern Japan, and tens of thousands of Japanese households are still without power on Thursday – more than 10 hours after the earthquake hit.
In several areas of Tokyo, power was back about three hours after the earthquake. But some 24,270 households, serviced by the Tohoku Electric Power Co, in northeast Japan remained without electricity till at least 10am on Thursday.
Tohoku officials said that they expected to restore the supply to all by later on Thursday.
Several companies quickly assessed the damage from the earthquake and supply chain disruption on the global output of smartphones, electronics and automobiles, according to Reuters.
Video from across Japan shows sudden blackouts and books or other items falling off shelves. Dramatic images and videos also showed the city skyline shaking and explosions or flashes in the distance of the night sky.
Mr Kishida said that Japan’s self-defence forces had been mobilised to assess the damage from the devastating earthquake.
He said: “We are still trying to understand the situation and collect information. The government will come together to save people’s lives and to make all-out efforts to provide safety and provide accurate information.”
On Thursday, Japanese officials also set out to access any damage to the nuclear plants in the region. They confirmed that there were no abnormalities at plants in Fukushima, in Onagawa in Miyagi Prefecture, or in Tokai in Ibaraki Prefecture.
A Tohoku Shinkansen bullet train derailed between Fukushima Station and Shiroishizao Station but all 78 passengers and crew members on board were unharmed, according to Kyodo News.
Injuries were reported not only from Miyagi and Fukushima but also from Iwate, Akita, Yamagata, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Saitama, Kanagawa, Yamanashi, Chiba and Niigata prefectures, according to local news reports.
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