Trains halted, dozens injured as earthquake rattles Japan

IWAKI (Japan) • Trains were halted over a wide swathe of north-eastern Japan yesterday after at least 146 people were injured in an earthquake that appeared to be an aftershock from the devastating quake that hit the area in 2011.

Energy companies witnessed no damage to nuclear power units in the region. About 13 thermal power plants in Fukushima and Miyagi stayed offline after the earthquake, with some expected to restart yesterday. More than 830,000 households in the Tohoku and Kanto regions experienced power outages, but supply resumed in most areas by yesterday morning.

The 7.3-magnitude quake had struck at 11.08pm local time (10.08pm Singapore time) on Saturday and cracked walls, shattered windows and set off a landslide in Fukushima, the area closest to the epicentre.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake was believed to be an aftershock from the March 11, 2011, 9.0-magnitude earthquake that set off a tsunami and the world's worst nuclear accident in 25 years. The agency had warned of aftershocks for several days.

The quake shook buildings in the Japanese capital Tokyo hundreds of kilometres away.

Several thousand households remained without water, though, and residents lined up with plastic jugs to receive water from lorries.

The power outages did not affect any of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine doses that arrived last Friday for inoculations that are to start this week, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told a news conference yesterday morning.

Several of those injured in the quake suffered fractures, NHK national television said, but there were no reported deaths.

Citing power plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company, NHK reported that there was a minor overflow of water from the pool that stores used nuclear fuels at the Fukushima nuclear plants, but no uncontrolled radiation activities were seen.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference yesterday that no incidents were reported from the nuclear power plants.

Some areas in Fukushima are still without water supply, a local newspaper reported.

East Japan Railway said part of its high-speed bullet and local train services will remain suspended until today due to damage to electrical lines.

The Tohoku Shinkansen bullet train line would need 10 days to resume its full service, according to NHK.

East Nippon Expressway said it has closed a line connecting Fukushima and Miyagi due to a landslide. Local media reported no injuries from the landslide.

There was no risk of a tsunami from the quake.

Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20 per cent of the world's earthquakes of 6.0-magnitude or greater.

Ms Aoi Hoshino, who owns a small bar on a back street in Iwaki, a city roughly 200km north of Tokyo and not far from the quake's epicentre, said Saturday's quake brought back frightening memories of the 2011 monster quake, which devastated a wide swathe of the Pacific coastline and killed nearly 20,000.

"My body immediately reacted, and I couldn't stop trembling. My legs were shaking too, but I couldn't gauge whether it was safer to run out or stay in, so I ended up doing a weird little dance," she said with a chuckle.

The 46-year-old spent yesterday sweeping up broken glass from some 20 shattered whisky bottles into a garbage bag in her bar.

"We were hit by this coronavirus pandemic, and so we were looking forward to reopening our shops, and now this happens," she said, referring to a locally declared state of emergency that had closed her bar from last month and was set to be lifted today.

"It's just one thing after another."

REUTERS, BLOOMBERG