Strong Earthquake Hits Japan Near Stricken Nuclear Power Plant
Posted by JAC on 4/11/2011, 6:09 am
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-04-11/strong-earthquake-hits-japan-near-stricken-nuclear-power-plant.html


April 11 (Bloomberg) -- A 6.6-magnitude earthquake hit Japan about 60 kilometers from Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s stricken nuclear power plant, prompting a tsunami warning and shaking buildings in the country's capital.

The quake struck at 5:16 p.m. local time 38 kilometers (24 miles) west of Iwaki and 163 kilometers from Tokyo at a depth of 10 kilometers, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. USGS revised the magnitude down from 7.1 earlier.

The second-highest tsunami warning was issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency, which said a surge as high as 2 meters (6.6 feet) is possible on parts of the eastern coast of Honshu. There is no threat of a widespread destructive tsunami, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

The quake registered as high as minus-6, the third-highest level on the Japanese scale of seismic intensity, in parts of Fukushima and Ibaraki prefectures, according to the weather agency. National broadcaster NHK Television showed footage of fishing boats heading out to sea to avoid a tsunami.

The quake struck one month after a magnitude-9 temblor on March 11 left 27,493 dead and missing, triggering a tsunami that knocked out power at Tokyo Electric's Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant, causing radiation to leak.

The aftershock briefly knocked out external power at the plant, disrupting the injection of cooling water into reactor Nos. 1, 2 and 3 at the station. Power has been restored, Hidehiko Nishiyama, deputy director-general of Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, said in a televised briefing.

Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan postponed a press conference scheduled for 5:50 p.m. to mark the one-month anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami, the Cabinet press club said.

Tohoku Electric Power Co. said power is on and cooling systems are running at its Onagawa and Higashidori nuclear plants in northern Japan, spokesman Sota Notsu said by phone.

To contact the reporter on this story: Stuart Biggs in Tokyo at Sbiggs3@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Teo Chian Wei at cwteo@bloomberg.net.
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Shallow Mw 6.6 - EASTERN HONSHU, JAPAN - JAC, 4/11/2011, 5:56 am
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