And earthquake in Japan 7.6 magnituded left creepy videos of what the moment of the tremor was like. Offices that shake, street signs that wobble, lights that sway.
The earthquake shook the northern coast of the Asian country on Monday, where several tsunami waves of up to 70 centimeters were recorded, according to authorities, who raised the alert early on Tuesday.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake occurred at 11:15 p.m. (2:15 p.m. GMT) off Misawa, on the north coast, at a depth of 53 kilometers.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) immediately issued a tsunami warning. A first wave hit a port in Aomori, on the main island of Japan, at 11:43 p.m. (2:43 p.m. GMT), the agency said.
Several waves, up to 70 centimeters, later reached the coast, he added.
Image taken with a mobile device of earthquake information displayed on a television screen. Photo: XinhuaThe public broadcaster NHK It cited a hotel employee in the town of Hachinohe in Aomori as saying there were some injuries. Live footage showed shards of broken glass scattered across the roads.
Hachinohe residents fled their homes to take refuge in city 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 prevented him from standing.
The meteorological agency had warned that a tsunami of up to three meters was expected on the Pacific coast of Japan.
No anomalies in nuclear power plants
The government spokesperson Minoru Kihara He urged residents to stay in a safe place until the alert was lifted.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks to the press after the powerful earthquake. Photo: EFEKihara stated that had not received «reports of anomalies» in both nuclear power plants in northern Japan, adding that research was underway at other nuclear facilities.
In 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake triggered a tsunami that left 18,500 dead or missing and caused a devastating meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Shortly after Monday’s earthquake, Tohoku Electric Power said in a post on they had not shown any anomaly.
Japan is located in the so-called Pacific Ring of Firean area of intense seismic activity.
The archipelago, home to around 125 million people, records approximately 1,500 shocks every year.
The vast majority are minor, although the damage they cause varies depending on their location and depth below the Earth’s surface.
Earthquakes are extremely difficult to predict, but in January a government panel slightly increased the probability of a major quake in the Nankai Trench off the coast of Japan in the next 30 years, putting it between 75% and 82%.
