A 7.3 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Japan has triggered two small tsunamis just days after the 11th anniversary of the 2011 nuclear disaster at the Fukushima nuclear reactor.
At least one person was confirmed dead, and almost 100 injured in the city of Soma, Fukushima, according to city officials reported by Japanese news outlet NHK World.
Buildings in Tokyo shook violently and more than 2 million homes lost power in large parts of eastern Japan after the earthquake struck around 11:30 pm local time on Wednesday. A 5.6 magnitude aftershock of hit about an hour later shortly before 1 am Thursday.
Small tsunami waves of about 20 centimetres in Sendai and the Port of Ishinomaki and 39,000 people were warned to evacuate the Miyagi Prefecture, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority reported the water pumps at two reactors in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant’s spent pool were halted.
There was also a fire alarm triggered at a turbine in the building of another reactor, but the nuclear regulator said there were no “abnormalities” with any of the facilities.
Three of the six reactors in the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Okuma melted down in 2011 after the tsunami flooded emergency power generators.
A bullet train carrying about 100 passengers and crew derailed between Fukushima and Miyagi, but no injuries were reported by East Japan Railway Co. Rail services were suspended as investigations continued.
More than 2.2 million households were left without power, including 700,000 in Tokyo. Power was later restored to most of them, according to the TEPCO Power Grid and Tohoku Electric Power Network Co.
Japan warned that another earthquake of “similar intensity” could hit the country within the next week.
