Half a decade after the deadly tsunami hit the cost of Fukushima, many Japanese citizens were again awakened by the same tremor like feeling on Tuesday, 22nd of November. The experience was caused due to the 6.9 magnitude earthquake that hit the area making the people dread the consequences again.
The dangerous event occurred at 5:59 A.M. A quake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.4 and is believed to be an aftershock of the March 2011 mega-quake as reported by the Japan Meteorological Agency. Although no causalities took place, 17 people in Fukushima, Chiba, Tokyo and Miyagi prefectures were injured as a result. The agency has also announced warnings that the area may look forward to more such quakes during the week. But the major concern was regarding the nuclear plant standing at the Fukushima coast that had born the full effect of the Tsunami before in 2011 too and the radiation leased caused from it are still being cleaned up.
But according to sources, no such critical mishaps happened and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant didn’t see any aftermath except the cooling system department getting a slight jerk that stopped the machines for around 2 hours. “I have been informed that it will not immediately lead to a radiation leak or an increase in the temperature of the fuel,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said in a news conference in Tokyo.
The aerial coverage of the waters around Fukushima after the earthquake showed a tsunami flowing up the rivers, overturning the fishing boats in the port of Higashimatsuyashima, Miyagi Prefecture, although not as impactful as the 2011 monster. But to be on the safer side, the government issued tsunami warnings and pleaded people to stay away from the epi-centre area of the earthquake. And hence Tuesday saw a fleet of people, almost more than 3,000, evacuate the land and move towards the safer zones.
The centre of the earthquake was about 25 km under the seabed in the Pacific Ocean off Fukushima, and also supposedly branched off a few small magnitude aftermath quakes. There was also a fire that had erupted 40 miles from the focus area at a petroleum refining facility in the town of Iwaki but was dealt with swiftly. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in a news conference in Buenos Aires that the government will assess the damage and keep the public informed.
