A major 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck the northeast coast of Japan on Wednesday evening local time, spurring warning of a forthcoming tsunami. The United States Geological Survey detected the earthquake as well as a series of smaller immediate aftershocks.
The tremor rattled buildings as far as the capital city of Tokyo, cut power for millions of residents, and has prompted a warning of waves up to one meter high hitting the coasts, Reuters reported.
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The Japan Meteorological Agency has issued tsunami forecasts for much of the eastern coast of Japan, and a formal tsunami advisory for the Fukushima and Miyagi regions. The former region is home to the nuclear power plant that, in 2011, became the site of the second worst nuclear accident in history. That, too, was spurred on by an earthquake, in which waves from an incoming tsunami flooded the facility’s cooling centers and led to a meltdown.
There’s no formal word yet on what risk this event poses to the power plant. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that, as of Thursday morning local time, officials were still investigating the extent of damage at the facility.
