According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), to the east of the island of Honshu (Japan) on the evening of Wednesday, March 16, there was a strong earthquake of magnitude 7.3, which was felt as far as Tokyo. He issued a tsunami warning for much of the northeast coast. The epicenter of the earthquake, which occurred at 23:36 local time (15:36 Paris time), was at sea, about fifty kilometers from the city of Minamisoma, in the department of Fukushima, at a depth of 60 km, according to JMA.
The USGS has located the quake’s epicenter as the blue dot on the map below. It is very close to the 2011 earthquake that caused the deadly tsunami and disaster at Fukushima.
East Japan Earthquake, March 16, 2022 (SCREEN SHOT/US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY)
Recall that during the disaster at Fukushima in 2011, the earthquake was a magnitude of 9.1. Its epicenter was in the same area as March 16, 2022, east of Honshu, the main island of Japan. It is not yet known if the earthquake resulted in any casualties.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has issued a one meter high wave warning. State broadcaster NHK reported a 20cm wave in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, which borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north.
The Japan Nuclear Safety Agency stated that no anomalies were found at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which has been shut down since the 2011 tsunami, and at the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant (No. 2). Closed since 2011, Japan’s government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno is located about ten kilometers from either Daiichi or Onagawa in the Miyagi department, according to Japanese government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno.
The JR East railway company, which serves the northeast of Japan, has reported major disruptions to its network. According to JR East, a Shinkansen, a Japanese bullet train, has derailed north of the city of Fukushima. But there were no reports of casualties.