Strong quake hits northeastern Japan, tsunami warning issued

In 2011, warning broadcasts were mostly limited to television, radio, and city officials on loudspeakers, with volunteer firemen in trucks roaming the roads, telling residents to flee to higher ground.

Japan was shaken but relieved Tuesday after a powerful quake generated only a small tsunami that caused no apparent damage to nuclear facilities.

Tidal waves of 0.3-1.4 meters have been observed Tuesday morning at Onahama port and Soma port in Fukushima prefecture, Ofunato port and Kuji port in northeastern Iwate prefecture, Sendai port and Ishinomaki Ayukawa in northeastern Miyagi prefecture, Oarai port in eastern Ibaraki prefecture, and Katsuura in eastern Chiba prefecture.

Nissan halted work at its Fukushima plant, in the city of Iwaki, and evacuated the facility after the natural disaster, reported The Guardian. “Flee!” in white lettering over a bright red band on the screen.

Tsunami warnings had been issued for Miyagi and Fukushima.

The main government spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, said in a televised briefing that there was no imminent danger to the cooling system for spent fuel.

The Yomiuri ShimbunSendai Port in Miyagi Prefecture was hit by tsunami more than one meter high about two hours after an quake struck off Fukushima Prefecture on Tuesday morning, prompting the Japan Meteorological Agency to issue an additional warning for Miyagi. As of this writing, the danger has been averted and people were urged to evacuate immediately.

USGS geophysicist Jessica Turner told CNN the quake had been much smaller than the disaster five years ago.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injury. But he said the No. 3 reactor at Fukushima Daini, the facility’s sister plant, had stopped functioning and was under review.

Japan’s national broadcaster, NHK said that a relatively small three meter tsunami was expected at any moment. “I thought something bad might happen, so I tried to escape to higher ground right away”.

The quake’s epicentre was around 245 kilometres south-east of Kamiashi at a depth of around 36 kilometres, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

Firefighters and others watch the port to check the water level as a tsunami warning is issued following an natural disaster in Soma, Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016.

A 6.9-magnitude natural disaster has been reported in Fukushima, Japan, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The airport in Sendai was temporarily closed and bullet train service was interrupted along several rails lines in the region early Tuesday.

Some evacuees took to Twitter to express their fears.

But it was the tsunami that followed that had the most devastating results. “This reminds me of that”.