April 11, 2011. Powerful quake strikes northeastern Japan

SOURCE:

Altegrity Risk International

A 7.1-magnitude earthquake triggered a brief tsunami warning and forced workers to evacuate the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on April 11th, striking exactly one month after a 9.0-magnitude quake and attendant tsunami ravaged much of northeastern Japan. The quake centered in Fukushima prefecture at some 10km (six miles) underground. The tsunami alert was later lifted with no significant damages or casualties reported.

In other news, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant operating company said on April 11th that power to the reactor cooling pumps was only briefly cut off in the April 11th 7.1-magnitude earthquake and that no major damages were reported in that closure. Officials also announced that the 20km (12-mile) exclusion zone around the plant would be expanded to encompass five communities after new data on accumulated radiation was uncovered. Evacuations will take place in Itate village - some 40km (25 miles) from the power plant - and in parts of Kawamata city.

The death toll from the March 11th earthquake and tsunami reached 13,127 on April 11th, with 14,348 remaining unaccounted for. More than 150,000 people lost their homes in the disaster.

Copyright © 2011, Altegrity Risk International, Inc.