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Magnitude 7.3 quake jolted northeast Japan, cuts power in Tokyo

Wednesday, 16 March 2022 6:22 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 16 March 2022 6:22 PM ]

A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 jolted Japan's northeast coast on Wednesday, shaking buildings as far away as Tokyo where it left hundreds of thousands without power, and reviving memories of a devastating quake 11 years earlier.

The tremor hit off the coast of Fukushima prefecture, some 275 kilometres (170 miles) northeast of Tokyo and at a depth of 60 kilometres, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.

It triggered a fire alarm at a turbine at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant, authorities said, adding that they were checking the situation. That plant was devastated by a magnitude 9 earthquake and following tsunami in March 2011.

"Regarding the damage to the nuclear facilities, no irregularities have been identified at Onagawa and Fukushima No.2 nuclear power plants at the moment. We are still checking status of Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant," said the Japanese cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno.

Tokyo Electric Power Company 9501.T said that around 2 million households were without power, including 700,000 in the capital, and that it was checking the condition of reactors at Fukushima and other plants, public broadcaster NHK reported.

Authorities issued a tsunami warning for the region of as high as 1 meter (3.3 ft), with public broadcaster NHK reporting waves of 20 centimeters (8 inches) in some places.

(Source: Reuters)

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