Tens of thousands of homes in Japan remained without power on Thursday after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck shortly before midnight, throwing a swathe of northeastern Japan into darkness, severing key transportation links and killing at least four people.
The temblor revived memories of Japan’s biggest quake, of magnitude 9.1, which struck on March 11, 2011 in the same area and which includes Fukushima prefecture and a nuclear power plant crippled by a tsunami and meltdown. It left a Shinkansen bullet train service indefinitely suspended, and at least one major highway to the region closed for safety checks.
“This one felt different (to the 2011 quake), it was huge. I had to hang on to something to stay upright,” said Aoi Hoshino, who owns a bar in Fukushima and had customers when the quake struck.
One of her customers shrugged off the initial tremors, but when the biggest one hit he stood up and shouted, “This is a big one!” she recalled.
The damage was minimal save a few framed pictures and cups that fell, thanks to rails Hoshino had added to shelves to stop bottles from falling in the event of an earthquake.
“For a while my hands wouldn’t stop shaking,” she said.
Parts of building facades tumbled into streets in some areas. Television footage showed a steep tiled roof crumpled over a parked, crushed car and workers examining cracked highways.
About 180 miles south of Fukushima, areas of the capital Tokyo lost power immediately after the quake, though most regained it within three hours.
But some 5,775 households serviced by Tohoku Electric Power Co Inc in the northeast remained without electricity as of noon local time (3am GMT) on Thursday, though the firm said it expected most will have supply restored later in the day.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said four people had died and that the government would be on high alert for the possibility of further strong tremors over the next two to three days.
At least 107 people were reported injured, several seriously, with 4,300 households also still without water by mid-morning.
The quake, initially measured at magnitude 7.3 but later revised to 7.4 by the Japan Meteorological Agency, hit at 11.36pm local time (2pm GMT) just off the coast of Fukushima prefecture at a depth of 37 miles. The 18 mile deep 2011 quake and tsunami off Fukushima - commemorated across the country less than a week ago - left some 18,000 dead.
A tsunami warning was issued but cancelled early on Thursday morning. Some areas reported a rise in the sea level but no serious damage was immediately reported.
