Nature
PUBLISHED
An earthquake off the coast of Fukushima, Japan, has sparked fears that a tsunami could be headed for the region. The Japan Meteorological Agency has issued a tsunami warning for coastal regions in the country following the 7.3-magnitude earthquake which occurred in northern Miyagi prefecture at around 11:36 pm local time on March 16.
The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.They are expected to host a press conference regarding the earthquake and tsunami warning later today.
ABC News reports that the agency has advised that Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures could experience a sea level surge of around 1 meter (3 feet) following the quake, and that it’s possible the tsunami may have already reached some areas.
Fighter jets have been deployed to assess any damage and gather information as the situation develops.
The 7.3-magnitude earthquake took place around 60 kilometers (36 miles) below the sea, reports Bloomberg, and left around two million homes without power across Tokyo.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings are reportedly checking for damage at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, where an earthquake in 2011 caused the cooling systems to fail.
As emergency services work to establish the scale of the damage, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Tweeted a warning to Japanese residents to take action to save lives first and keep an eye out for further information from the official account of the Prime Minister's Office.
[H/T: Sky News]
