A total of 152 people in 10 prefectures had been injured as of 9 a.m. Monday due to the earthquake that struck off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture late Saturday night, according to a tally by The Yomiuri Shimbun.
An earthquake estimated at magnitude 7.3 occurred at around 11:07 p.m. Saturday, with its focus about 55 kilometers below ground. An upper 6 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 was felt in Soma city and the towns of Shinchi and Kunimi in Fukushima Prefecture and in the Miyagi Prefecture town of Zao.
The injured included 81 people in Fukushima Prefecture and 52 in Miyagi Prefecture. Eleven people in Fukushima, Miyagi, Saitama and Chiba prefectures were seriously injured, such as breaking a leg after stumbling.
There were no reports of deaths or missing persons.
Earthquakes believed to be the aftershocks of Sunday's jolt had occurred 54 times in Fukushima Prefecture as of 10 a.m. Monday. The Japan Meteorological Agency warned that powerful aftershocks, measuring as strong as upper 6, would occur over the next seven days or so.
In Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures, damage was confirmed for a total of 266 buildings, including houses, and water outages have continued for 900 households in the Miyagi Prefecture town of Yamamoto.
About 850,000 households in the Kanto and Tohoku regions lost power immediately after the earthquake, but it was restored by Sunday morning.
The Tohoku Shinkansen line has suspended operations between Nasu-Shiobara and Morioka stations after leaning and broken power line poles and cracks on the pillars supporting viaducts were found in more than 20 places. East Japan Railway Co. said Sunday that it will take about 10 days for operations to resume on the entire line.
Airline companies switched some flights to aircraft with more capacity and are currently operating temporary flights linking Haneda and Itami airports with cities in the Tohoku region.
In Soma, a roadside slope collapsed near the Soma Interchange on the Joban Expressway, blocking about 70 meters of road with earth and sand. East Nippon Expressway Co. is carrying out restoration work.
According to the Nuclear Regulation Authority, about 2.2 liters of water containing radioactive substances overflowed from fuel pools storing spent nuclear fuel at the Nos. 5 and 6 reactors at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
In addition, at the No. 1 reactor of the Fukushima No. 2 nuclear power plant, a small amount of water overflowed from the pool. At both plants, the water did not leak outside the buildings, and the incidents did not disrupt the cooling system for the nuclear fuel.
No major problems have been confirmed at other nuclear power plants, including Tohoku Electric Power Co.'s Onagawa nuclear power plant.
Saturday's earthquake is believed to be an aftershock of the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 2011, according to the agency.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
