Japan raises tsunami alert after a 6.9-magnitude earthquake

TOKYO: Japanese authorities lifted a file Tsunami Warning Issued after the fort 6.9 magnitude earthquake On the open Richter scale recorded this Saturday at Miyagi Prefecture (Northeast Japan).

The earthquake, which recorded an initial magnitude of 7.2 before adjusting, occurred at 18:09 local time on Saturday (9.09 GMT) and had its epicenter at sea off Miyagi coast It is about 60 kilometers deep, according to the meteorological agency Japan (JMA), which has warned of the risk of a tsunami by detecting the earthquake.

Japanese state television NHK reported a sea rise of about 1 meter on the Miyagi coast a few minutes after the earthquake, with no other significant incidents detected later on the northeast coast of the Japanese archipelago.

Local authorities ordered the evacuation of about 25,000 people from the municipalities of Shishighama and Watari in coastal areas affected by the warning and advised the rest of the population in the area not to approach the Pacific Ocean.

Photos: AFP

JMA seismologist Noriko Kamaya advised residents to stay away from the coast even after the alert was raised and warned that changes in sea levels could be observed in Iwai, Miyagi and Fukushima for about half a day after the shaking.

The intensity of the earthquake in Miyagi reached a level 5 above the Japanese scale with a maximum of 7 and more focused on the areas affected by the intensity of the earthquake.

In other areas of northeastern Japan, the earthquake was level 5 on that scale, while in the Tokyo metropolitan area, where the earthquake was felt strongly, it was level 3.

In Fukushima Prefecture, where the destroyed Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant is located, Level 5 has also been reached.

The operator of this plant, Tokyo Electric Power, reported that it had not detected any abnormalities in these nuclear facilities or Dyne facilities, nor differences in the measurements of radioactivity in those areas.

The earthquake disrupted the transportation network in the northeast. The NHK reports that the Tohoku high-speed Shinkansen line between Ume and Hashinohe stations has been suspended, and at least three highways in Fukushima Prefecture, south of Miyagi, have also been temporarily closed.

Likewise, about 200 homes were left without electricity in Kurihara, northwest of the town of Onagawa, whose earthquake struck off the coast and caused no noticeable damage to infrastructure in the area at present.

The Japanese executive has summoned an emergency team to gather available information, according to the aforementioned state media.

The meteorological agency warned of the possibility of other severe earthquakes in the region for a week.

The epicenter was located in an area close to where the earthquake with a magnitude of 9.1 on the Richter scale originated on March 11, 2011, causing a tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan and triggered the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident.

On February 14, another earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale occurred off the coast of Fukushima, which according to JMA experts could be a replica of 2011 and could be followed by other similar tremors.

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