At least 30 people were reported injured on Tuesday (9, local date) after the strong 7.6 magnitude earthquake shook the northern coast of Japan, where several tsunami waves of up to 70 centimeters were recorded, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said.
- Context: Japan issues tsunami warning of up to 3 meters after 7.6 magnitude earthquake
The tremor was recorded Monday at 11:15 p.m. (11:15 a.m. in Brasilia) off Misawa, on the northern coast of the archipelago, at a depth of 53 km, and raised the possibility of further strong tremors in the coming days, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).
Takaichi said 30 people were injured by the earthquake and asked the population to take protective measures in case of further aftershocks. Among the injured is a seriously injured person on the northern island of Hokkaido, said the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, which recommended the evacuation of 28,000 people.
The JMA initially issued a tsunami warning, but lifted it a few hours later. He also said that several waves, up to 70 centimeters, then reached the coast.
Public broadcaster NHK quoted a hotel worker in the town of Hachinohe, Aomori, as saying there were some injuries. Live footage showed shards of glass strewn across the streets.
Residents of Hachinohe fled their homes to take refuge at the town hall, according to NHK. The earthquake was also felt in the urban center of Sapporo, where alarms sounded on cell phones to alert residents.
An NHK reporter in Hokkaido described a horizontal tremor lasting about 30 seconds that left him unable to stand.
The weather agency had warned that a tsunami of up to three meters was expected on Japan’s Pacific coast. Government spokesman Minoru Kihara urged residents to stay in a safe place until the warning is lifted.
No anomalies in nuclear power plants
Kihara said he had not received “anomaly reports” at the two nuclear power plants in northern Japan, and added that investigations were underway at other nuclear facilities.
In 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake triggered a tsunami that left 18,500 people dead or missing and caused a devastating meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Shortly after Monday’s quake, Tohoku Electric Power said in a post on X that the safety systems at its Higashidori nuclear plant in Aomori and its Onagawa plant in the Miyagi region showed no anomalies.
Japan is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a zone of intense seismic activity. The archipelago, which is home to around 125 million inhabitants, records around 1,500 tremors per year. The vast majority are benign, although the damage caused varies depending on their location and depth below the earth’s surface.
Earthquakes are extremely difficult to predict, but in January a government committee slightly increased its estimate of the probability of a significant temblor in the Nankai Trench, opposite the Japanese archipelago, over the next 30 years, to between 75% and 82%.
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