A scare, then relief after powerful Japan quake and tsunami

Tuesday’s quake brought a fuel cooling system to a halt at Reactor 3 at Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Station, 10 kilometres south of the Daiichi plant, Tokyo Electric said.

The agency warned that another large quake could hit in the next few days and urged residents to remain cautious for about a week.

Jake Emen, an American staying in a 16th-floor hotel room in Tokyo, nearly 150 miles away, told NBC News that his room began “rumbling” about 6 a.m. and then started to sway for several minutes.

People continue to keep a lookout after tsunami advisories triggered by the natural disaster were issued.

A tsunami wave of 1-3 meters (3-10 feet) is possible, according to the agency. She said many former residents of the area are still living in temporary housing.

An early wobble in Japan’s stock markets, as investors digested the news from the north-east, was quickly reversed when television pictures confirmed that the damage was not serious.

Rail services were also disrupted by the quake, with bullet train runs on the Tokaido, Tohoku, Joetsu and Hokuriku Shinkansen lines temporarily stopped for about 30 minutes.

A spokeswoman for Tokyo Electric Power, known as Tepco, said the cooling system for a storage pool for spent nuclear fuel at the reactor at its Fukushima Daini Plant had been halted.

Barrs says the natural disaster initially prompted them to leave their hotel room, but after discovering the elevators were not working, they chose to stay in their room.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was in Argentina on Tuesday, following the APEC meeting in Peru, but he said the government was ready to respond. The Japanese natural disaster comes just days after one in New Zealand where several people lost their lives.

Map of magnitude 6.0+ earthquakes near Japan from 1990 to 2014.

On Tuesday, New Zealand was again hit by a low-intensity quake targeting the north east of the country.

There have been no reports of significant damage from the quake or tsunami. Only six people were affected by minor injuries.

The 2011 quake triggered tsunamis of 10 to 20 meters (30 to 60 feet) that rose even higher when the water was funneled up rivers that empty into the ocean. These warning were initially downgraded to a “less severe” status, and later, recalled altogether.