Japan: Powerful aftershock leaves three dead
09 April BBC
Three people have been killed and scores injured after a powerful
aftershock struck north-east Japan. Several buildings were destroyed and
power was cut to 3.6 million homes.
It was the most powerful tremor since the 9.0-magnitude quake that
triggered a devastating tsunami four weeks ago.
At the crippled Fukushima nuclear power station workers briefly
retreated to a quake-proof shelter. The plant's operator later said
there was no sign problems there were any worse. The latest earthquake
struck just before midnight on Thursday, at a depth of 49km (32 miles),
close to the epicentre of the 11 March quake.
First reports said it had a magnitude of 7.4 but that was later
revised to 7.1, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). A tsunami
warning was lifted after about 90 minutes.
Last month's quake struck at 32km deep. More than 12,700 people are
known to have died in the disaster and nearly 15,000 people remain
unaccounted for. Hundreds of thousands have been made homeless.
In the latest earthquake, a 63-year-old woman died when the tremor
knocked out power in Yamagata prefecture, shutting off her respirator.
In Miyagi Prefecture, two men, aged 79 and 85, died at a hospital.
Fire officials say the quake may have brought on heart attacks. Japan's
nuclear safety agency said facilities along the north-east coast were
under control. Back-up diesel generators kicked in at several plants
after external power was lost.
Operations have been suspended at all nuclear power plants from
Aomori to Ibaraki prefectures since the 11 March quake, but electricity
is still crucial to keep the cooling systems operating. Workers at the
crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station were safe, a spokesman
for plant operator, Tepco, told a news conference in Tokyo. No new
irregularities were detected in radiation readings or at the facilities,
the firm said.
Workers are trying to keep the damaged reactors cool to stop further
releases of radioactive material.
Work to discharge low-level radioactive water into the sea from a
storage facility would continue on Friday, Tepco said.
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