Powerful magnitude 7.3 earthquake rattles Tokyo, Japan, and triggers a tsunami advisory near Fukushima
PHILIP FONG/AFP via Getty Images
- A powerful earthquake with a 7.3 magnitude struck northern Japan on Wednesday night.
- The quake, which the Japan Meteorological Agency said struck 36 miles below the sea, triggered a tsunami advisory.
- The earthquake also rattled Tokyo, where reportedly 2 million households lost power as a result.
A powerful earthquake with a 7.3 magnitude struck northern Japan on Wednesday night, triggering a tsunami advisory.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said that the earthquake hit at around 11:36 p.m. local time off the coast of Fukushima prefecture and struck 36 miles below the sea.
The earthquake rattled the capital of Tokyo, causing buildings to sway, The Associated Press reported.
The Tokyo Electric Power Company said that quake caused more than 2 million households to lose power, according to the AFP.
The East Japan Railway Co. said most of its train services were suspended for safety reasons, the AP reported.
A tsunami advisory was issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency for parts of the northeast coast.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's office said that the government was assessing the extent of the damage caused by the earthquake and vowed to "spare no effort in our emergency disaster responses, including saving lives and rescuing disaster victims."
The region where Wednesday's earthquake hit struck the same part of northern Japan that was battered by a deadly 9.0 quake and tsunami 11 years ago on March 11, 2011.
The quake devastated the Fukushima nuclear power plant, causing a nuclear disaster, and killed nearly 16,000 people.