An earthquake measuring 6.0 struck the Fukushima region in northeastern Japan on Thursday (4/4). However, the Japan Meteorological Agency did not issue a tsunami warning. There have been no reports of damage or casualties following the quake, whose epicenter was 40 kilometers (25 miles) deep and was also felt in Tokyo.
Japan, one of the most tectonically active countries in the world, has strict building standards designed to ensure structures can withstand even the strongest earthquakes. The island nation, which is home to around 125 million people, experiences around 1,500 shocks each year, most of which are mild.
The United States Geological Survey put the magnitude of Thursday’s earthquake at 6.1 on the Richter scale, with a depth of 40.1 kilometers. This comes a day following at least nine people died and more than 1,000 people were injured due to a powerful earthquake in Taiwan.
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An earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale that occurred on Wednesday damaged dozens of buildings in Taiwan and triggered tsunami warnings in Japan and the Philippines.
Japan’s largest earthquake ever recorded was an underwater shock measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale in March 2011 off Japan’s northeastern coast, which triggered a tsunami that left around 18,500 people dead or missing.
The 2011 disaster also caused three reactors at the Fukushima nuclear power plant to melt down, causing Japan’s worst post-war disaster and the most serious nuclear accident since Chernobyl. The total cost is estimated at 16.9 trillion yen (US$112 billion), not including the dismantling of the dangerous Fukushima facilities, which is expected to take decades. (AFP/M-3)
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