6-magnitude quake shakes north-east Japan; no tsunami alert

TOKYO – A magnitude-6 earthquake struck off north-eastern Japan’s Fukushima region on April 4, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, but no tsunami warning was issued.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries after the earthquake, which had an epicentre at a depth of 40km and which was also felt in Tokyo.

Tepco, the operator of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, said “no abnormalities” had been detected at the stricken plant or others in the region.

Japan, one of the world’s most tectonically active countries, has strict building standards to ensure that structures can withstand even the most powerful earthquakes.

The archipelago, home to around 125 million people, experiences around 1,500 jolts every year, the vast majority of which are mild.

The US Geological Survey put April 4’s quake at magnitude 6.1, with a depth of 40.1km.

It comes a day after at least nine people were killed and more than 1,000 injured

by a powerful earthquake

in Taiwan.

The 7.4-magnitude quake on April 3 damaged dozens of buildings in Taiwan and prompted tsunami warnings as far as Japan and the Philippines.

Japan’s biggest earthquake on record was a

massive 9-magnitude undersea jolt in March 2011

off its north-east coast, which triggered a tsunami that left around 18,500 people dead or missing.

The catastrophe also sent three reactors into meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant, causing Japan’s worst post-war disaster and the most serious nuclear accident since Chernobyl.

The total cost was estimated at 16.9 trillion yen (S$150.2 billion), not including the hazardous decommissioning of the Fukushima facility, which is expected to take decades. AFP