Japan experiences natural disaster; Initial Tsunami warnings downgraded

A tsunami of up to 1.4 meters (4.5 feet) had been observed around Sendai, about 70 km (45 miles) north of Fukushima, with smaller waves hitting ports elsewhere along the coast, public broadcaster NHK said.

The plant is being decommissioned after the 2011 tsunami sent three of its reactors into meltdown, but the site remains at risk as the utility figures out how to remove still-radioactive fuel rods and debris and what to do with the melted reactor cores.

Tsunami warning for northeastern prefectures of Miyagi and Fukushima was downgraded to advisory at 9.46 am by the JMA, with the four prefectures of Miyagi, Fukushima, Iwate and Ibaraki given tsunami advisory at present.

A tsunami warning had been in effect along Japan’s Fukushima coast after the magnitude 7.4 quake hit at 5:59 a.m. local time on Tuesday (3:59 p.m. EST Monday).

Earthquakes that occur underwatercan cause tsunamis by deforming the sea floor faster than water can move out of the way.

While normal waves are caused by the winds as well as the Moon and the Sun, a tsunami is always caused by the displacement of a large body of water. In this case, it took about half an hour for the waves to reach the shoreline.

The quake today off Fukushima underlines how important these early warning systems are, in a country that has more large earthquakes than any other, and from where the word “tsunami” – meaning harbour wave – originates.

After the 2011 tsunami I visited the tiny village of Aneyoshi, a smattering of 11 homes on an isolated peninsula. Three people were injured, police told CNN, while more than 1,900 homes briefly lost power. Both plants are operated by Tokyo-based TEPCO.

The quake, measured at a magnitude of 6.9 by the U.S. Geological Survey, hit off the coast about 20 miles southeast of the town of Namie at about 6 a.m. Tuesday.

“Tsunamis as small as 90 cm can be extremely damaging”. You wouldn’t want to be in a auto, swimming, or walking anywhere near those currents when they rushed in.

Tsunami alerts have been issued at least two times since 2011, he said, so his family was prepared and wasn’t that alarmed.

So far no one has been killed by the events, but some injuries have been reported. Computer programs are constantly monitoring the measurements recorded byseismometers deployed worldwide, and raise a flag when they detect shaking. The main fear was the threat of tsunami for people living on the coast. People have already uploaded various terrifying videos that show the quake hitting various Japanese cities, and the panic that ensued – from street views to video snippets of homes and offices. “Judging from this, they did pretty darned well”, Fryer says.

A major natural disaster hit northeastern Japan early on Tuesday, causing authorities to issue a tsunami warning and thousands of residents to be evacuated from their homes.

Yoshihide Suga, the government’s top spokesman, was quoted as telling reporters in Tokyo that authorities “are now confirming the situation, but I have been informed that [the cooling failure] will not immediately lead to a radiation leak or an increase in the temperature of the fuel”.