Magnitude 5.3 Aftershock Registered In Japan

MAGNITUDE 5.3 aftershock registered in Japan following massive earthquake earlier in the week

According to Japan’s Meteorological Agency, a powerful 5.3 magnitude aftershock has rocked the Fukushima Prefecture. The rumble was felt at 9:26pm local time and the agency has recorded its epicentre as 50 kilometres underwater. The aftershock could be felt as far as the capital, Tokyo.

A massive magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck Saturday, February 13, off the coast of Japan’s Fukushima prefecture, which was home to one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters almost a decade ago.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake — which it initially said had a magnitude of 7.1 — struck at 11:08 p.m. local time (9:08 a.m. ET) at a depth of 34 miles. Fourteen small aftershocks were recorded shortly afterward, it said, adding that a tsunami warning had not been issued.

The quake had serious consequences, as according to local media in Japan, NHK, it caused a fuel spill at Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power plant.

The company that runs and owns the plant, TEPCO said: “A patrol found that about 160 ml of pool water for storing spent nuclear fuel at Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 in preparation for decommissioning in Fukushima Prefecture had leaked into a ditch next to the pool. It seems that it overflowed due to the shaking of the earthquake, but according to the Nuclear Regulatory Agency, the amount is small, so there is no effect on the cooling of nuclear fuel, and the radiation dose is low, so as yet there is no concern about exposure to workers.”

Japan’s Meteorological Agency said it considers Saturday’s earthquake off the east coast to be an aftershock of the deadly 9.0-magnitude earthquake that struck the same area on March 11, 2011, causing a tsunami that left more than 20,000 people dead or missing.

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