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In Pictures: Strong quake off Japan’s Fukushima

Powerful earthquake off the coast of northeastern Japan leaves dozens injured.

A collapsed wall after the earthquake, in Kunimi, Fukushima Prefecture. [Kyodo via Reuters]
Published On 14 Feb 2021

A magnitude 7.3 earthquake off Japan’s Fukushima coast has injured dozens of people, nearly 10 years after the eastern region was hit by a huge quake that sparked a tsunami and nuclear meltdown.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Sunday that no deaths had so far been reported after the late-night quake, which did not trigger a tsunami warning.

Japan’s disaster agency said 74 injuries had been reported in the region and also around Tokyo, where the quake was felt strongly just after 11pm (14:00 GMT) on Saturday.

No abnormalities were reported at the Fukushima nuclear plant, which melted down in the wake of the March 2011 quake that triggered a towering tsunami and killed more than 18,000 people.

Japan’s meteorological agency said Saturday’s quake, which hit at a depth of 60 km (37 miles) in the Pacific off Fukushima, was considered an aftershock of the massive tremor nearly a decade ago.

No significant damage was reported but authorities were assessing the impact of a landslide on a highway, government spokesman Katsunobu Kato said, while aerial TV footage showed another landslide at a remote race circuit.

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Kato warned residents about the possibility of strong aftershocks in the next week and further landslides due to heavy rain forecast.

“Particularly for the next two to three days, there might be very strong earthquakes,” Kato said.

A gate is seen broken in Koori, Fukushima Prefecture, early on February 14, 2021, after a strong earthquake shook northeastern Japan
A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck off Japan's east coast late on Saturday, rattling the region hit by the powerful 2011 quake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown. [Kyodo via Reuters]
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Excavators remove mud following a landslide covering Joban expressway in the aftermath of the earthquake in Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan. [Kimimasa Mayama/EPA]
A woman cleans up broken plates at a restaurant after the earthquake. The quake produced powerful tremors along parts of Japan's eastern coast, and was felt strongly in Tokyo, but triggered no tsunami alert. [Jiji Press via EPA]
A woman surveys the damage in her kitchen in the aftermath of the quake in Soma. The disaster agency said 74 injuries had been reported in the region and around Tokyo. [Jiji Press via EPA]
Folding shelters are set up at a gymnasium in Soma. The Tokyo Electric Power Company said some 860,000 homes were without power as a result of the quake, but electricity was gradually being restored. [Jiji Press via EPA]
An evacuated family rests at the shelter set up in a sports arena in Soma. [Jiji Press via AFP]
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A library staff member picks up books that fell during the earthquake at Iwaki City library in Iwaki. Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas. Japan accounts for about 20 percent of the world’s earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater. [Issei Kato/Reuters]
Items scattered on the floor of the Hirono town office after the earthquake ,in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan. [Kyodo via Reuters]
A landslide caused by the earthquake blocks Joban Expressway in Soma, Fukushima Prefecture. [Kyodo via Reuters]
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture after the strong earthquake that shook northeastern Japan. No abnormalities were reported at the nuclear plant, which melted down in the wake of the March 2011 quake. [Kyodo via Reuters]