A powerful underwater earthquake struck near the northeast coast of Japan on Saturday, but with no immediate casualties or property damage reported, and a tsunami warning was lifted.
The earthquake, with a magnitude revised by the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) to 6.9 from 7.2 initially, occurred at 6:09 p.m. (5:09 a.m. in Quebec) at a depth of about 60 kilometers below the earthquake. Pacific Ocean and across from Miyagi Department.
The JMA initially issued a tsunami warning, but the waves caused by the quake only reached about one meter.
This alert was therefore lifted after a little over an hour, thus putting an end to the evacuation measures which concerned thousands of homes.
Electricity providers and the Japanese Nuclear Safety Authority (NRA) said no damage had been seen at nuclear power plants in the area.
Rail traffic in the area has nevertheless been suspended, including for high-speed Shinkansen trains.
According to the JMA, this is a new aftershock of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake of March 11, 2011, which caused a gigantic and very deadly tsunami, which itself triggered the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
“I remembered that day ten years ago,” a resident of the coastal town of Ishinomaki, in Miyagi department, who had taken refuge on a hill told NHK on Saturday. after the tsunami warning.
“Due to our experience that day, I evacuated quickly. My heart is beating hard, ”he added.
“We have not received any reports of damage or injuries (…), but we continue to collect information,” Takashi Yokota, a member of the Miyagi disaster management office, told AFP.
The northeast of Japan had already been shaken in mid-February by an underwater earthquake of magnitude 7.3 which had not caused a tsunami. It was also a replica of the terrible shock of ten years ago.
The February earthquake left one dead and hundreds injured, and material damage was limited.
Located at the crossroads of several large tectonic plates, Japan is affected by earthquakes. But the country has strict building standards so that its buildings are able to withstand strong shaking.