The powerful quake was widely felt throughout Japan, including the shaking of four on Japan’s seven-point scale in the capital of Tokyo.
Late Saturday night, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Fukushima prefecture in northern Japan, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, but there was no tsunami threat.
The earthquake’s epicenter was at a depth of 60 km (36 miles) off the coast of Fukushima prefecture, the agency said, adding that no tsunami warning was given.
The USGS said the quake occurred in the Pacific, off Fukushima, at a depth of 54 kilometers (33 miles) near the epicenter of a 2011 killer quake that caused a towering tsunami and killed more than 18,000 people.
To analyze the situation, the government has set up an emergency task force.
According to local media, no immediate anomalies were reported at the nuclear plants in Fukushima. The earthquake took place less than a month before the 10th anniversary of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, leaving around 19,000 people dead or missing in the broader region. The Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant was struck by a tsunami, leading to three nuclear units’ meltdown.The extreme quake was widely felt throughout Japan, including the shaking of four on Japan’s seven-point scale in the capital Tokyo. According to local media, they identified no immediate anomalies at the nuclear plants in Fukushima.
The Japanese meteorological agency announced that the earthquake measured a preliminary magnitude of 7 and was centered well off the northeastern coast of Hokkaido’s main island in northern Japan. It was based 60 kilometers (100 miles) below the surface of the ocean and east of the island of Etorofu, a Russia-held island claimed by Japan as well.
At its office in Kushiro on Hokkaido’s southeastern coast, NHK public television displayed video monitors and trembling shelves.
Prefectural police in Hokkaido said they had not received any reports of damage or injuries. Because of its depth and distance from the shore, officials said the quake was unlikely to trigger any.
