Another earthquake hits Fukushima

August 4, 2013

M6 quake hits northeastern Japan, no tsunami warning issued

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20130804p2g00m0dm031000c.html

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.0 hit parts of Miyagi Prefecture in northeastern Japan on Sunday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

No tsunami warning was issued following the 12:28 p.m. quake, which registered upper 5 on the Japanese seismic scale of 7 in the city of Ishinomaki in Miyagi. The quake is considered to be an aftershock of the 2011 quake in eastern Japan, the weather agency said.

Two men were injured in the quake in the prefectural capital of Sendai, according to the city's fire department.

No fresh abnormalities were reported at the Fukushima Daiichi and Daini nuclear power plants in Fukushima Prefecture, adjacent to Miyagi, according to Tokyo Electric Power Co.

No abnormalities were reported either at the Onagawa nuclear power plant in Miyagi, Tohoku Electric Power Co. said.

The plant is one of many that have been shut down across the country over safety concerns following the Fukushima catastrophe.

The focus of the quake was in waters off the coast of the prefecture at a depth of 58 kilometers.

Tohoku Shinkansen bullet trains were temporarily halted but East Japan Railway Co., known as JR East, soon resumed operating them.

Some parts of the Tohoku Expressway were closed to vehicle traffic for about an hour, Japan Road Traffic Information Center said.