Powerful quake off northern Japan; injuring dozens, road collapse, power outages

A powerful magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck off the coast of northern Japan’s Aomori region, injuring at least 30 people, damaging roads and disabling the power supply in freezing temperatures on Tuesday.

As reported by Business Recorder, the Japan Meteorological Agency said that the magnitude 7.5 quake at 11:15 pm on Monday (1415 GMT) was revised down from its first reading of 7.6 and raised the chances of powerful earthquakes in the coming days.

In this connection Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said 20 people were injured in the quake off of the northern Aomori region, which generated seismic sea waves up to 70 centimeters.

The video footage circulating of the tragic incident showed people in a supermarket clinging to a table with items having fallen off shelves, as well as fissures in roads and at least one car in a hole.

Initially, there were reports of numerous fires, but government spokesperson Minoiru Kihara later confirmed a blaze at a house.

It has been observed that around 28,000 people were specifically advised after the quake to evacuate, and media reports some temporary improvised shelters were completely booked.

Concerning the situation, Shinkansen bullet-train was suspended in some areas while engineers particularly checked for any sort of damage.

On the contrary, operator Tohoku Electric Power confirmed that no abnormalities were detected at the Higashidori or Onagawa nuclear power plants.

According to Geologists Kyle Bradely and Judith A. Hubbard, there was no specific way to determine whether a strong earthquake will be followed by a similar, or even stronger one.

They further explained, “Instead, we must rely on historical statistics, which tell us that very few large earthquakes are soon followed by even larger events.”

A magnitude-9.0 quake set off a flood tide that left 18,500 people dead or missing, causing a catastrophe at the Fukushima nuclear plant in 2011.

Quakes are unpredictable, but a government panel negligibly increased the probability of a major jolt in the Nankai Trough off Japan in the next 30 years to a high 75-82 percent.

Japan sits on top of four major tectonic plates along the western edge of the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and is one of the world’s geologically active countries.

Nonetheless, the recent incident results in significant shaking and initial tsunami warming, followed by moderate damage and injuries, but the authorities remain on high alert for aftershocks and future seismic events.