EARTHQUAKE AFTERSHOCK HITS JAPAN 114,000 EVACUATED

Written by Michael Thervil

EARTHQUAKE AFTERSHOCK HITS JAPAN | 114,000 EVACUATEDPHOTO BY HIDENORI NAGAI / THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN VIA REUTERS

[Japan earthquake] Late last night at roughly 11:15pm yesterday evening Japan was struck by an earthquake that measured 7.1 on the Richter Scale that sent evacuation orders for 114,000 people due to the risk of a tsunami in the northeastern coast of Japan. It was reported that 30 people were injured as a result. Although the earthquake did not strike Japan directly as it struck 40 to 50 miles away in the sea at a depth of roughly 30 miles of the coast of Aomori Prefecture (mainland Japan) and the Japanese island of Honshu. Fires and blackouts were reported. This newest earthquake in the region triggered aftershocks that lasted for 30 second across the entire island nations of Japan. Currently there has been a warning issued by the Japanese meteorological agency (JMA) that there is a 1% chance that an 8.0 earthquake will strike Japan sometime later this week.

The JMA stated: “While it remains deeply uncertain whether a major earthquake will actually occur, we believe it’s essential to take disaster preparedness measures based on the principle that we must protect our own lives.” a tsunami warning was issued was issued for both the Iwate and Aomori prefectures as well as for the Pacific coast of Hokkaido. It was reported that 1.3-foot tsunami waves were seen at Aomori and Hokkaido, and a 2.3-foot tsunami wave was seen at the Kuji port in Iwate.

While Japan has been rocked by devastating earthquakes before, such as the 9.1 Fukushima earthquake that occurred in 2011 that nearly destroyed Japan's Daiichi nuclear reactor, triggering an international response. Following that Japan was also hit by another earthquake in 2021 which measured 7.4 and another earthquake in 2022 which measured as a 7.2 on the Richter Scale. Japan has been able to recover since then and is expected to recover after this one as well.