A major earthquake shook northern Japan on Saturday.
The magnitude 6.3 quake struck around 12:35 p.m. local time under the ocean about 400 miles north northeast of Tokyo. The quake was 8.4 miles underground and did not produce a tsunami.
Because of the location of the quake, only a small amount of damage and minor injuries were reported.
Meanwhile, Japan’s nuclear regulatory commission said that the tsunami in 2011 was the cause of the damage and meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The massive earthquake did not cause enough damage to launch the plant into a meltdown.
The plant also announced last week they had made improvements that would now require an 89 foot wave to cause damage.
The worst snowfall to hit Tokyo in decades caused major disruptions to power, thousands of injuries and at least 11 deaths.
Japan’s Meteorological Agency said over 10.6 inches of snow fell by late Saturday, the most to fall on the city in 45 years. Commuters on Monday morning found that most roads had not been plowed and many areas outside the downtown area were impassable from blowing snow.
Flights at Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport were cancelled or backed up with remaining flights overbooked with people attempting to leave. Officials said at least 5,000 people were stuck at the airport.
Power was out for over 20,000 households.
Officials say 11 people died from car accidents or falls. At least one man was reported in critical condition after falling after he slipped while shoveling snow. Officials did not say how many of the 1,000 reported injuries required a hospital stay.
In the northern part of the country, the city of Sendai which had been partially devastated by the 2011 tsunami recorded almost 14 inches of snow, the highest level in 78 years.
The head of the devastated Fukushima nuclear power plant is warning that the 2011 meltdown should be a warning to the world to prepare for the worst.
Naomi Hirose, president of Tokyo Electric Power Company, said the triple meltdown following the earthquake and tsunami should be taken into account when countries build new nuclear power facilities.
“Try to examine all the possibilities, no matter how small they are, and don’t think any single counter-measure is foolproof,” Hirose told London’s Guardian newspaper. “Think about all different kinds of small counter-measures, not just one big solution. There’s not one single answer.”
The interview came as the British government just signed a deal with EDF Energy to build a new generation of nuclear reactors in the country.
A week of earthquakes across Japan is heading into the weekend with a 7.0 magnitude quake.
The major quake, which fortunately did not spark a tsunami, comes two days after a 6.2 magnitude quake that struck about 110 miles south of Tokyo. Continue reading →
Fears of a euro-zone collapse, an economic relapse in the United States and a slowdown in China combined to drive the Tokyo Stock Market to it’s lowest level in 28 years.
The FTSE CNBC Asia 100 Index fell over 111 points, a drop of 2.1 percent. The index measures markets across Asia. The individual Topix index hit a 28 year low as investors rushed to sell after U.S. jobs data disappointed analysts. Continue reading →