Saturday, October 26, 2013
7.3-Magnitude Quake Rocks Japan; No Damage Reports
A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck offshore of Japan's crippled nuclear power plant early Saturday, triggering small tsunamis but causing no damage.
An earthquake official with the Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake was an aftershock of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that struck the same area in 2011, killing about 19,000 people and devastating the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant.
There was no damage and only one minor injury was reported, the national Fire and Disaster Management Agency said. Tsunamis of up to 40 centimeters (15 inches) hit four areas along the coast, but a tsunami advisory was lifted less than two hours after the quake.
The epicenter of the 2:10 a.m. Tokyo time (1710 GMT) quake was about 290 kilometers (170 miles) off Fukushima, and it was felt in Tokyo, 300 miles (480 kilometers) away.
"It was fairly big, and rattled quite a bit, but nothing fell to the floor or broke. We've had quakes of this magnitude before," Satoshi Mizuno, an official with the Fukushima prefectural government's disaster management department, told The Associated Press by phone. "Luckily, the quake's center was very far off the coast."
Mizuno said the operator of the troubled Fukushima plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co., said no damage or abnormalities had been found.
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Author: By MARI YAMAGUCHI and KEN MORITSUGU Associated Press
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