(GNB Desk): A strong 7.1-magnitude earthquake has taken place off the eastern coast of Japan. There was no threat of a tsunami from the quake. About 830,000 households were hit by blackouts, according to Tokyo Electric Power Co., also known as Tepco.
The quake on Saturday produced powerful shaking along parts of Japan’s eastern coast, and was felt strongly in Tokyo, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
Japan’s meteorological agency said the quake hit at 11.08pm local time (1408 GMT) at a depth of 60km (37 miles) in the Pacific, off Fukushima – near the epicentre of a 2011 killer quake that triggered a towering tsunami and killed more than 18,000 people.
Saturday’s quake was followed by aftershocks, including a 4.7-magnitude jolt, JMA said. Local media reported power outages affecting hundreds of thousands of homes across the Tohoku region of eastern Japan.
Local media reported the quake threw dishes from shelves in houses in the region, but there were no immediate reports of damage. Trains in the region were stopped after the quake.
After the 7.1 quake, many smaller earthquakes with magnitudes between 3 and 5 occurred off Fukushima, media outlets reported.
Tokyo Electric Power Company said in a tweet “Currently, no abnormalities found at TEPCO’s Nuclear Power Stations after Magnitude 7.1 earthquake off the coast of Fukushima at 23:08 JST Feb. 13. The facility was melted down after the 2011 tsunami.
The US Geological Survey registered the quake as magnitude 7.0 at a depth of 54km.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga immediately directed government agencies to assess damage, rescue any potential victims, work with municipalities and provide necessary information about any evacuation plans and damage as soon as possible. The government was setting up a task force to examine the quake, media agencies reported.
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