TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A powerful earthquake rocked northern Japan on Tuesday, November 22, 2016, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, generating a tsunami on the country's northern Pacific coast, a location previously devastated by a massive quake, tsunami and nuclear disaster back in 2011.
The earthquake, which was felt in Tokyo, had a preliminary magnitude of 7.3 Richter Scale and was centered off the coast of Fukushima prefecture at a depth of about 10 km (6 miles), the agency said.
A tsunami of up to one meter high had been observed around Fukushima following the quake, which struck at 5:59 AM local time, as reported by a public broadcaster from NHK, after warning of waves of up to 3 meters (10 feet) has been issued.
All nuclear plants on the coast threatened by the tsunami have been shutdown to disaster similar to the March 2011 disaster, which knocked out Tokyo Electric Power Co's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, spilling radiation into the air and sea.
A spokeswoman for Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), said that the cooling system for a storage pool for spent nuclear fuel at reactor at its Fukushima Daini Plant had been halted, but was restarted soon after.
No other damage was reported at any of Tepco's power plants, although blackouts were reported in some areas, according to the spokeswoman.
REUTERS
