Massive 6.9 magnitude natural disaster strikes Japan sparking tsunami fears

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). Other details were not clear, he said, adding that no other major damage in the city has been reported at the moment.

John Matthews in Tokyo says news reports in Japan are stressing the importance of evacuation orders.

But some tsunami waves managed to flow up some rivers in certain areas.

An natural disaster measuring 7.4 on the Richter Scale hit Fukushima in Japan on Tuesday, the weather agency said, leaving at least 12 people injured.

The JMA measured it as a magnitude-7.3 natural disaster and said a tsunami up to 3 meters (10 ft) was imminent.

He adds: “It really came back”.

“Evacuate immediately from coastal regions and riverside areas to a safer place such as high ground or an evacuation building”. The Japan quake 2016 on Tuesday was initially at 7.4 magnitude.

They said in an emergency bulletin: “Tsunami Warning”.

More than 18,000 people died in 2011, or are presumed dead (about 2,500 bodies were never recovered and may have been washed out to sea).

The global Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research said in July that levels were returning to normal but that the seabed and harbour near Fukushima were still highly contaminated. About two hours later, the highest wave of 1.4m was recorded in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, north of Fukushima. Yesterday’s natural disaster struck close to the town of Namie.

In a statement, the agency said the natural disaster was thought to be an aftershock of the 9.0-magnitude event that devastated the same region in 2011.

Engineers use water at the plant to keep melted fuel from the 2011 meltdowns from overheating, a process that generates thousands of gallons of contaminated water every day.

The quake was felt in Tokyo and thousands living along the coast on the northeastern side had to leave for higher ground.

Naohiro Masuda, head of TEPCO’s decommissioning unit, said decommissioning work at the destroyed Fukushima Dai-ichi plant has been temporarily suspended because of the quake.

All nuclear plants in the area have been shuttered since that incident, but the Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, said that a cooling system for spent fuel at the nearby Fukushima Daini Plant had temporarily shut down because of Tuesday’s quake.

“With regards to Fukushima plant No. 1, it appears to be there is no problem inthe plant, but we proactively stopped operation of the contaminated water discharge system with a judgement that it could be problematic if it (radioactive water) leaks out”, he said.