Tsunami alert triggered in Japan: 11 years later, a violent earthquake hits Fukushima again

A powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake shook the coast of Fukushima in northern Japan on Wednesday, triggering a tsunami warning. On March 11, 2011, a very violent earthquake in this area had already caused a deadly tsunami which had caused the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Two million homes are without electricity due to the violent earthquake that shook eastern Japan on Wednesday evening March 16. The 7.3 magnitude quake, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) was felt as far away as Tokyo, where buildings shook and power outages were reported.

The agency also issued a tsunami warning for much of the island’s northeast coast. The epicenter of the quake, which occurred at 11:36 p.m. local time (3:36 p.m. Paris time), was located off the coast of Fukushima prefecture, 60 km deep.

The agency issued a tsunami advisory for a sea surge of up to one meter in parts of Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures. National NHK television said the tsunami had already reached some areas.

This earthquake comes as Japan discreetly commemorated last Friday the triple disaster of March 11, 2011, when a very violent earthquake caused a deadly tsunami which itself caused the nuclear disaster of Fukushima.

The heavy human toll, 18,500 dead or missing, was mainly caused by the tsunami.