Two Killed in a 7.3 Fukushima Tremor

On March 16, at 11:36 PM local time (10:36 PM CST), an earthquake of magnitude 7.3 hit the coast of northeast Japan. The Fire and Disaster Management Agency have reported two deaths and 94 injuries as of March 17. Officials are still investigating further damages done by the earthquake.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company stated that about 2 million households lost power on Wednesday after the quake, including 700,000 in the capital. Tōhoku Electric Power, another utility provider, said about 38,500 homes were still without power at 7:40 am local time on March 16.

“I heard the ground rumbling. Rather than feeling scared, I immediately remembered the Great East Japan earthquake,” an Ishinomaki city official said, referring to the 2011 disaster.

According to an operator,  a bullet train north of Fukushima city was also derailed by the earthquake. There were no immediate reports of injuries from that incident.

Just a few days before the event, on March 11, many citizens of Japan walked on various coasts and shorelines with bouquets to pray for their loved ones who died in the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, where a total of 15,899 was killed by a magnitude 9.0-9.1 undersea megathrust earthquake. As a result, over 160,000 residents fled the city, as the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant spewed radiation into the air after its meltdown.

As of now, the Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida, reported that the nuclear power plants are unaffected by the earthquake.

“It’s good that there weren’t many injuries or deaths compared to the 2011 earthquake,” said William L., a sophomore in AISG. “The Japanese Meteorological Agency is better with their predictions and precautions now.”

Japan sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity that stretches through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin. Causing Japan to experience frequent devastating earthquakes and tsunamis.