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7.4 magnitude powerful earthquake strikes Japan; 2 killed, dozens injured

 

Tokyo: A high- intensity earthquake of magnitude 7.4 magnitude rattled large parts of east Japan and prompted a tsunami warning on Thursday. At least two people were killed and dozens injured in a powerful overnight earthquake, and the residents and officials in the country’s northeast were still trying to assess the damage early on Thursday, after the earthquake hit, shortly before midnight.

The quake struck at a depth of 60 kilometers (37 miles) off the Fukushima coast and was preceded minutes earlier by another strong 6.1-magnitude shake in the same area, Japan’s Meteorological Agency said. A tsunami warning for waves of up to a metre in parts of northeast Japan was lifted in the early hours of Thursday, after authorities recorded water levels up to 30cm higher than usual in some areas. Multiple smaller jolts continued to hit the region throughout the night and morning on Thursday.

Initial reports of damage appeared relatively minor, in a country with tough building codes intended to protect against devastation from frequent earthquakes, and officials said there were no abnormalities at nuclear plants. Two people were killed in the quake, one in the Fukushima region and a second in neighbouring Miyagi, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, with over 90 people injured across several regions.

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The night-time tremors came just days after Japan marked the 11th anniversary of a massive quake that triggered a deadly tsunami and the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe. The overnight quake produced strong shaking in the coastal northeast, where items were thrown from the shelves of convenience stores and bookcases toppled over in homes. The jolts also rattled the capital and temporarily plunged parts of Tokyo and other areas into darkness.

Japan is located on the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’, an arc of intense seismic activity that stretches through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin. The country is regularly hit by quakes, but it remains haunted by the memory of the 2011 catastrophe which left 18,500 people dead or missing, most in the tsunami.

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